Red-Eyed Beloved
by Lovely Fox-Kit
Summary: Re-edited version of a previously posted fic, all errors have been fixed so enjoy this redone version everybody!
1. Unspoken

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Hello peoples, and welcome to another fic by me! This time it's gonna be a 'Kingdom Hearts'/'Final Fantasy' crossover fic and the pairings are as follows- CloudxAerith, SoraxRiku, and eventual SoraxVincent…anyway, on with the fic!

Summary: Sora thinks his life is nothing short of hell- a horrible job, an equally terrible high school life, and worst of all, a dead end relationship with Riku. So, when he accompanies Cloud on a delivery job to Nibelheim, will his life finally look up when he catches the eye of one Vincent Valentine, or will his life continue to spiral downward until it ends?

**Ch.1- Unspoken**

As Sora Strife (I'm giving him Cloud's last name b/c he's Cloud and Aerith's son in this fic. Also, the Mako treatments will have a funny effect on him in this fic) lay on his bed, he thought of his life over the last 6 years- he'd rescued all the worlds from the Heartless and Nobodies, beaten all of Organization XIII, sealed the worlds from any and all remaining Heartless, and brought Riku back home after defeating Xemnas. It was also then that he and Riku had hooked up, and that's when it all went to hell…after 3 years in a relationship that wasn't going anywhere, he decided that tomorrow he'd end it all with Riku for good.

"Sora! Time for dinner, go get your brother and join us at the table in 5 minutes."

"Ok, mom. I'll be down in a minute."

As Sora finished that sentence, he got up and went next door to his brother, Roxas' room. He and Roxas were identical twins save for their hair color. Roxas had bright blond hair and Sora had his mother's chocolate brown hair. As he stood outside the door, he knocked on it and stood there until he heard a muffled 'Come in' and opened the door to find his brother on the bed reading a book.

"Mom said it's dinnertime, Roxas."

"Alright, I'll be right there…y'know, Sora, you seem a bit upset about something- do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not now, maybe after dinner ok?"

"(sighs) Alright...anyway, let's go before mom kills us."

As the 2 of them sat at the table, their father Cloud Strife joined them just as their mother Aerith set the rest of the food down and they all started to eat…but for some reason Sora didn't feel very hungry.

"Sora, you've hardly eaten. Is something the matter?" Cloud asked his son worriedly.

"No dad, it's just…(sighs) sorry, but may I be excused? I just don't feel well."

"Well, ok…But I'll leave some for you if you get hungry later, ok Sora?"

"Thanks, mom."

As Sora headed up to his room, Cloud decided to talk to his son about what had been happening to him. Even he could see that Sora was unhappy with his life as it was, so he decided to clear things up with him right now. He now stood outside Sora's room and softly knocked on the door.

"Sora? It's your father, can I come in? I want to talk to you."

"Sure, dad. Come in."

When Cloud entered his son's room, he saw it was in disarray- clothes on the floor, his violin sitting in the corner, and a box of tissues nearby. He could only guess that Sora'd been crying and decided to sit on the bed so that he could ask him what had been going on with him lately.

"You know Sora, you can tell me what's wrong…is it school?"

"(muffled) No."

"….work?"

"No."

"…is it Riku?"

"….."

"I'll take that as a yes. What's wrong with Riku, did something happen with you two?"

"…Yes, I don't think our relationship is going anywhere so now-"

"You want to break up with him?"

"Yes, but I don't want to just be a total dick and break it off with him for no reason. What do I do?"

"Well, I'll call Sephiroth tonight and tell him about this so that you two can resolve it tomorrow at school, ok? And for the record, I think this is better for you both than to have a loveless relationship. Good night, Sora."

"Good night dad, and thank you."

As Cloud watched Sora drift off to sleep, he went to his room and dialed a number he knew so well. After a few moments, the other end picked up.

"Hello Cloud, it's been awhile since you last called. So, what's wrong?" Cloud smiled at hearing the voice of the platinum haired ex-Avalanche general, who also happened to be his best friend.

"Hello, Sephiroth. It's about Sora…he wants to break up with Riku, so I thought I'd let you know of this. You're not mad, are you?"

"Of course not. I knew all along that Sora's unhappy with Riku and that my son is a tad bit possessive over him, but I'll keep this between us and let them sort it out themselves tomorrow at school. If you need anything else, just tell me old friend and I'll help in any way that I can. Well, Tifa's looking for me so I gotta go. Good night, Cloud."

"Good night Sephiroth, and thank you." Cloud smiled as he hung up the phone as he thought of how to make Sora feel better and not so depressed when a thought came to him.

'_I can take him with me on a delivery job to Nibelheim. A change of scenery will do him some good, and he can possibly make some new friends away from school. I'll take him with me tomorrow, and hopefully things will finally look up for him.'_

As Cloud let this thought flow through his mind, he changed into his sleep clothes and retired for the night.

(Next day, Radiant Garden High)

As Sora sat in his music class next to his best friend Kairi, he thought of what he'd play if called upon when the teacher, Squall Lionheart came in and silenced everyone with a glare. As he took roll, he had Selphie come up first and as she played her piece Squall pointed out that she'd missed the double flat necessary for the piece she was playing (*cough*butchering *cough*) and told her to take her seat as Sora was called up next and he chose to play a piece called 'Fiction', he'd been practicing lately in order to have it be perfect and as the notes started to fill the room, he'd started crying and that made him all the more beautiful in Riku's eyes.

When the last notes lingered and then faded, Squall looked at him and told him that he did a great job and had him take his seat as the rest of the class played their pieces until the lunch bell rang and Sora headed outside to eat with Riku.

(Outer Garden, 12:10 p.m.)

As Sora sat next to his 'boyfriend', he decided it was now or never and spoke up.

"Riku? I need to tell you something important and it can't wait anymore."

(Looks at Sora curiously) "Well, what is it?"

"….I'm done, _we're_ done."

"Wait…you're breaking up with me? Why?!"

"Because, our relationship isn't going anywhere and I'm tired of the loveless nature of our feelings for each other. I'm sorry, but we'll just have to be friends from now on…Later, Riku."

As Sora got up to leave, Riku grabbed his wrist and gripped it rather painfully causing Sora to cry out in pain.

"Ouch, Riku that hurts…let go of me!"

"No! I'll never let you go, you're mine Sora! I won't let anyone have you but me…is that clear?!"

"R-riku, I told you it's over! Let me go right now, or I'll-"

"You'll what?"

As Sora tried to wrench his wrist free of his ex's vice like grip, he saw a shadow looming behind Riku and heard a smooth menacing voice say "Or _I'll make_ _you _let him go."

"Yazoo, what are you doing here?" Sora asked shocked, he never expected him to show up out of nowhere like this. Yazoo smiled sweetly at Sora, and venomously at the silver haired teen holding his cousin captive with no intention of backing down.

"Well, I came to check on you Sora. Let him go Riku, or I'll break your arm right here."

As Riku let Sora go, he turned to the taller platinum haired teen and saw not only him but Kadaj, Loz, and Axel standing there. Riku shot them all a hateful glare before he stormed off angrily as Yazoo took Sora's wrist and gently assessed it for any broken bones.

"Well, everything looks ok…what happened to make him want to do that to you? And don't try to hide it from me Sora, 'cuz I'll find out eventually."

As he stared at his cousin and the rest of his friends, he knew that Yazoo was right so he just came out with it. "Well, we broke up. We're not together anymore, Yazoo."

"What? But I thought you loved Riku with all your heart, Sora. Why would you end it just like that?" Yazoo was surprised that Sora would end such a wonderful relationship with the man, but he knew that he wouldn't without a good reason why.

"Well, our relationship wasn't really going anywhere. I _did_ love him at first, but the feelings have long since passed and I thought it'd be better for both of us before we got hurt further down the road."

As Yazoo listened and let the words sink in, he realized that Sora was right and maybe it _was_ better this way for both of them. He then looked to Sora, and saw no doubts in his eyes.

"Well, be sure it's what you _really_ want to do. Anyway, it looks like we have a half day today so why don't you head on home for now and mull this whole thing over ok?"

"Sure, Yazoo. And, thanks you guys."

As he watched his cousin head home, Yazoo couldn't help but think that Sora definitely deserved better and hoped he would get it soon.

(Sora's House 12:55 p.m.)

As Sora walked in, he put his bag down on the shelf next to his brother's and was greeted by his mom as she came out holding a towel and a wet bowl. "Welcome home, Sora." She smiled at her son, but then her gaze drifted to his wrist…to her it looked like he'd been assaulted, worry immediately settling on her face as she put the now dry bowl down on the table and grabbed the reddened area gently to look at it. "What happened? Did Riku hurt you?!"

"No…well maybe a little. I broke up with him, and he almost broke my wrist but Yazoo came and helped me out. By the way, where's dad?"

"He's outside fixing up Fenrir (the name of Cloud's motorcycle from FF7: Advent Children), and he said he wanted to talk to you about something. He's out back."

"Ok."

When Sora saw his dad outside fixing up his motorcycle, he couldn't help but smile at how much grease was on his face when he looked up at him from a sitting position.

"Can you hand me that towel there, Sora? (Sora hands him said towel) Thank you. So, I'm guessing things went well with Riku?"

"I guess so, he almost broke my wrist…but Yazoo came in and helped me, and then Riku just walked off. I only hope that we can stay friends, even if my heart is with someone else."

"Well, I hope so too. Anyway, put this on (hands Sora a helmet)."

"Why? Where are we going?"

"To Nibelheim. I have a delivery I have to make there, and I think that you need to get away from all the things that upset you. Don't worry though, I called your boss and let him know you would be away for a while so it's all settled. Now, get on and hang on tight…if we leave now, we should get there by nightfall and we can stay in a hotel when we arrive."

As Sora slipped on the helmet, he waited for Cloud to get on and then he wrapped his arms around his father's hips, holding on tight as he felt Fenrir start up before the two of them sped off into the midday sun to what seemed, in Sora's mind, a whole other world.

T.B.C.- So let me know what u think of this one, k? Thx!


	2. Dark Side

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Welcome to ch.2! This one is going to be longer than any I've ever written before, so stick with me this time around and I hope u enjoy!

**Ch.2- Dark Side**

As Sora watched everything zoom past, he couldn't help but let his mind wander back to his break-up with Riku…he didn't want to hurt him like that, but it was better this way for both of them and he felt that Riku might end up doing something he'll regret later on, but he certainly hoped it wouldn't turn out that way.

While he let his thoughts drift into their own world, he felt himself get tired and soon enough fell into a peaceful sleep for the first time in months. When he felt his shoulders being shaken, he opened his eyes and found it was his father shaking him awake.

"Wake up Sora, we're here."

"(yawns) Where?"

"In Nibelheim…we're staying at a hotel for the night, and then we'll meet up with my friends tomorrow ok?"

"Ok, but I forgot to bring my violin…how am I supposed to keep practicing without it?"

"Don't worry, I called your mom and arranged for her to send it to you and the instrument should be here in the morning. Now, let's go check into our room for the night."

As the two of them went into the hotel lobby, Cloud checked them both in for a 2 week long stay before the two of them went upstairs and settled in for the night.

(Next morning, 8:45 a.m.)

As Sora sat up in bed and stretched his stiff muscles, he went into the restroom and set to work getting ready for the day. After 20 minutes, he strode down to the lobby and found the receptionist sitting there with a cup of coffee as she flashed him a smile and waved at him. As he waved back, he heard a knock at the door and looked through the eyehole at who it was and saw a girl standing there with a case of some sort. When he looked back at the desk, she nodded to him and he opened the door to let her in.

"Sora Strife? I have a delivery for you, if you'll sign this form then I'll hand it to you."

Sora took the pen and signed, she then handed him the case and simply walked out after that. As he picked up the case, a note fell onto the floor and Sora picked it up…his eyes scanning over it, a smile appearing on his face as he took in his mother's handwriting.

'_Sora- your father mentioned that you might be needing this, so I had it sent over to you. I hope it made the trip in one piece…please be careful with it. Love, mom.'_

Sora then realized that it was his violin and smiled as he lifted it out of its' case and simply held it for a moment as he smiled at it. It truly was a beautiful instrument, polished bright cherry-wood frame with strong but delicate strings that elicited a wide range of emotions when played in the right way, and a thin but sturdy fiddle string for playing said violin. As he remembered holding it for the first time on his 6th birthday, he soon started playing '_Ai no Matador'_ by NEWS and let the notes linger in the air as he also quietly started singing the song in time to the strings and notes.

'_akaku yureru chika no FURORU ni  
kasanari ubau yo na koshitsuki de  
dare demo yokatta WAKE ja nai  
ORE wo mite nani wo kanjita?_

_[YA/MA] DON'T WORRY DON'T WORRY  
sonna yatsu ja nai  
[KA/TE] I'M LONELY I'M LONELY  
hanasanai_

_konya dake wa ai no MATADOORU  
oide yo hikiyosete  
dakiau no ni koi nante iranai  
ima wa KIMI dake dakishimetai_

_RIZUMU ni awase yureru kurokami  
kakiwake ubau atsui KISU mo  
dareka daku tabi wasureru no sa  
AITSU nante mou motometenai_

_[YA/MA] YOU TAKE ME JUST LET ME  
tanoshimeba ii  
[KO/TE] DON'T LEAVE ME DON'T LEAVE ME  
hoshii daro_

_konya dake wa ai no MATADOORU  
odoru yo fuku wo sutete  
dakiau no ni uso nante iranai  
ima wa KIMI dake dakishimetai_

_[KO/MA] YOU TAKE ME JUST LET ME  
tanoshimeba ii  
[NI/KA] DON'T LEAVE ME DON'T LEAVE ME  
kirai ja nai daro_

_konya dake wa ai no MATADOORU  
oide yo hikiyosete  
dakiau no ni koi nante iranai  
kono itami wo iyashite_

_konya dake wa ai no MATADOORU  
odoru yo fuku wo sutete  
dakiau no ni uso nante iranai  
ima wa KIMI dake dakishimetai' _

When the last notes faded, Sora let the silence settle again as the receptionist applauded him softly and he then heard a voice say "You could've waited until I was awake before you started playing." Sora looked over to the staircase and saw his father standing at the bottom of the steps, a tired smile on his face and a cup of coffee in his hand as he let out a soft yawn.

"Sorry, dad. Thanks for having it brought here, I really appreciate it…so, what now? You said there were some friends of yours that you wanted me to meet?"

"Oh yeah, I did say that didn't I? Why don't we go to 7th Heaven, it's a regular meeting place for us. I'll just let them know that's where we'll be meeting them."

As Cloud called pulled his cell phone out of his pocket to call his friends, Sora left the hotel to explore the small town in the meantime and he decided that it was a nice place. After a couple hours of walking around, the brunette teen got a text from Cloud saying to meet up with him outside the meeting place. He texted back saying that he was already nearby and they met up not even 20 minutes later outside the building that had a sign on it that said '7th Heaven', another sign underneath that said 'Under New Management'. Cloud smiled at his son as the two of them went inside.

When Cloud saw his friends all sitting there, save for Tifa, Aerith, and Sephiroth, the blonde introduced Sora to all of them and he had his own opinions on each of them.

Reno- Sora thought him really funny but a bit over-the-top.

Reina (Reno's twin sister)- Just like her brother, but a little more mature.

Cid- A bit rowdy, but a great guy to go drinking with (when he turned 21, of course).

Barrett- Kinda like a father figure, and a nice guy overall.

Yuffie- A bit spunky and hyper, but still makes people laugh.

Red XIII- Very wise, but also very kind and protective.

Tseng- A bit too closed off.

Denzel/Marlene- Both great kids.

Cait Sith- A little too sneaky for his liking.

Rude- A bit too committed to his job, but not so bad a guy once you know him.

As Sora laughed and smiled with all of them, Reno noticed the violin case that Sora had with him. "So, you play the violin Sora?" As he looked at the case then back at the redhead, he just nodded at Reno and pulled it out of its' case and started playing a simple melody that had everyone listening intently until the end, and Cloud couldn't help but smile at his son with pride and happiness.

It was at this moment that the blonde asked "By the way, has anyone seen Vincent anywhere? I wanted Sora to meet him."

As Sora listened to his dad mention someone named 'Vincent' he thought of what kind of person he must be, and why he wasn't here with the rest of his new friends.

"Sorry Cloud, no one's seen him since you, Tifa, Aerith, and Sephiroth left…but, my guess is he's at the graveyard today. He's probably visiting Lucrecia's grave, as usual." Said Yuffie in a matter-of-fact tone.

When Sora heard 'Graveyard', it made him remember 'Halloweentown' and his adventures there with Jack and all the rest of the town's residents. He then asked "Where's the graveyard? I can go looking for him if you want."

When the brunette spoke up, Cid wrote down the directions and Sora took the note, scanning over the directions as he walked out the door. He soon found himself following them, but before he went to the graveyard, he stopped at the flower shop to pick up some white lilies and forget-me-nots. He paid the young blonde haired boy for the bouquet, then took them with him as he read the directions while walking with the flowers in his other hand until he found himself standing at the gates to the graveyard…he opened the gates to let himself in and started searching along the rows of headstones until he saw someone standing in front of a tall grave. He couldn't tell who they were because all he saw was their hair- long, midnight black strands that cascaded down the back of their blood red jacket.

As he moved forward to quietly place the flowers in front of the grave, Sora offered up a prayer to the Lifestream for the one who was sleeping here before looking up and catching eyes with, in his opinion, the single most beautiful person in the whole world. He had pale skin, that same long flowing black hair framed his face perfectly, a red headband and cowl covering his face but only to his nose. What had Sora's attention the most were his eyes- deep pools of crimson that looked like they were glowing like rubies in the afternoon sun. His trance was broken when he heard the man next to him say "You look so much like Cloud…but you have Aerith's eyes. You must be their child, Sora- I heard that he brought you here for personal reasons. I'm Vincent Valentine."

As Sora listened to him speak, he found that Vincent's deep smooth voice made him shiver but he didn't know why exactly…and he finally managed to say "Y-yeah, that's right…I came here to find you actually, and I thought I'd pay my respects to this woman who sleeps here. Her name's Lucrecia, right? She must've been really important to you if you visit her so much, isn't she?"

At hearing Sora say something so simple yet so profound, he exhaled a breath that he didn't realize he was holding as their eyes locked onto each other once again.

(Vincent's P.O.V.)

As I let this kid I'd only just met a moment ago say something so simple yet so meaningful, I'd realized that he was exactly like his parents- but was also his own unique person…he was also really cute with cream-pale skin, chocolate brown hair that seemed untamable, eyes at least a full shade bluer than Cloud's and a thin yet athletic frame that was just a little shorter than I was, but it was his words that held me so close at the moment and we were simply staring, waiting for the other to say something and I decided to break the silence of this moment.

"Yes, she meant so much to me- but now she's gone and I wonder if perhaps I _could've _saved her life had it not been for _him_…!"

"Him? Who are you talking about?"

"Never mind, its' nothing…so, I see you play the violin…what sort of songs do you play?"

As I saw Sora bring the case around, I heard him say "Oh yeah, I forgot I had it with me…well, I play just about anything I can think of or have heard before. Do you want to hear? I'm sure she'd like to hear too." Soar motioned to the grave both men were stationed in front of.

"Sure, go ahead."

As Sora pulled out the instrument, I could tell he took really great care of it as he started strumming a song I'd never heard before but what pulled me in was how he started to sing in time with the tune and how many emotions and thoughts that he evoked deep within my very soul.

'_There's a place that I know  
It's not pretty there and few have ever gone_  
_If I show it to you now  
Will it make you run away'_

As the song took on what sounded like a depressing tone, I couldn't help but wonder what made him sing this kind of song as he let the next lines fall from his lips.

'_Or will you stay  
Even if it hurts  
Even if I try to push you out  
Will you return?  
And remind me who I really am  
Please remind me who I really am' _

When he sang this part, I suddenly realized that he may very well be asking for acceptance through his music, but I would have to find out for sure later as he kept going.

'_Everybody's got a dark side  
Do you love me?  
Can you love mine?  
Nobody's a picture perfect  
But we're worth it  
You know that we're worth it  
Will you love me?  
Even with my dark side?' _

'_Like a diamond  
From black dust  
It's hard to know  
What can become  
If you give up  
So don't give up on me  
Please remind me who I really am'_

I then remembered when I spent so many years asleep in that coffin in Hojo's now abandoned estate and the day I was awoken by Cloud and his friends…I also realized that I would never have known what I could have been had I kept sleeping for all time.

'_Everybody's got a dark side  
Do you love me?  
Can you love mine?  
Nobody's a picture perfect  
But we're worth it  
You know that we're worth it  
Will you love me?  
Even with my dark side?'_

'_Don't run away  
Don't run away  
Just tell me that you will stay  
Promise me you will stay  
Don't run away  
Don't run away  
Just promise me you will stay  
Promise me you will stay' _

In his words, I knew now that Sora needed someone to stay by his side as a friend…or perhaps something more as I kept silent and listened to him finish the melody he was weaving with his voice.

'_Will you love me? Ohh'_

'Everybody's got a dark side  
Do you love me?  
Can you love mine?  
Nobody's a picture perfect  
But we're worth it  
You know that we're worth it  
Will you love me?  
Even with my dark side?

Don't run away  
Don't run away

Don't run away  
Promise you'll stay.' 

As the last of the notes lingered and faded away, I turned to him and voiced my opinion.

"That was…beautiful, but is that because someone hurt you someplace where it can't be healed so easily? I don't mean to pry, but it sounds like that's the case…if you don't wish to tell me, then I won't ask anymore until you're ready to tell me willingly on your own."

When I told him this, his eyes widened a little and something tells me I hit the nail on the head as he got a faraway look in his eyes at that moment.

(Sora's P.O.V.)

When he'd said that, I realized that he was far more intelligent than I took him for in that moment…and maybe I _could_ tell him but something in my heart was telling me it was too soon, that the pain of leaving Riku forever was still too great a wound to expose to this dark angel right next to me…but I realized that I would never truly heal if I didn't tell him now and let it go.

"(sighs) No, if I want to move on with my life then I have to let this heartache go…I used to have a boyfriend, and he was my everything…his name is Riku, we were in a relationship that I thought would last forever."

"I see…so, what happened?"

"Well, it started out great for the first 2 years that we were together…but, when it was our 3rd year it became too stagnant and the feelings I had were nonexistent in my heart, I decided that it was time to free us both from this painful relationship. So, I broke up with him and it ended badly…I only hope that he'll still be my friend even if we're not together anymore. Anyway, that's pretty much all there is to tell about it. You know, for some reason I feel better after telling you this…it's getting late, we should probably be getting back soon." Sora noted after glancing at the sky, the clouds becoming tinged with dark blue and the sky had turned blue-black, denoting late evening.

"Alright, I'll walk you back…is that okay with you?"

"Sure, you don't have to ask Vincent but it's nice that you did anyway."

As we walked back into town, I saw something that made my heart drop in that instant.

"No, it can't be…there's no way!"

As I panicked and called OathKeeper into my hand, Vincent looked ahead and saw what made me draw my weapon as he pulled out what looked like a 3-barrelled pistol.

When he looked at the enemy, he then looked to me and said "What the fuck _is_ that thing?"

"It's a Nobody…but, I thought they were all gone when I defeated Xemnas and sealed off The World That Never Was 3 years ago…maybe some of them survived."

"You'll have to help me defeat this one…I've never fought this type of enemy before."

"Just follow my lead."

As we charged at the Nobody called a 'Dragoon', Vincent shot 3 bullets at it as I came in from behind him, calling out the second Keyblade 'Ultima' into my hand and used the shots to enhance our attack into a new move called 'Double or Nothing'. He watched as I swiped at it with both keyblades and finished it off as an army of at least 200 Heartless showed up afterwards…and they were headed into the town.

T.B.C.- Ooh, why are the Heartless back again? Read the next chapter to find out!


	3. The More Things Change

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N- Welcome to Ch.3! It's time for a nice big battle! The heartless are back and causing trouble again, but who sent them after sora and his family/friends? Read further to find out, now on with the chappie!

**Ch.3- The More Things Change, the More They Stay The Same **

(Normal P.O.V.)

As we watched the heartless head off toward Nibelheim, Sora filled Vincent in on the way about what had happened in all the time he'd spent fighting them, he just nodded and asked how to defeat them.

"Shoot at where their hearts were and I'll take care of some of them. Also, don't let them steal any hearts from people…it's what they want, and I don't want anyone else to lose their hearts."

"Ok, let's go!"

While they made their way through all the Heartless, the sounds of fighting could be heard right inside of 7th Heaven.

(Inside 7th Heaven lobby)

As Cloud and the others made a stand against the Heartless, Yuffie couldn't help but wonder where they all came from…when Sora closed off the last of the worlds, she was sure he'd stopped them for good…whoever had let them loose, she was gonna shove a shuriken straight up their ass as she swiped at another one as 2 more took their place when one was killed.

"Ugh, there's too many! We can't take them all on like this!" said Reno as he took out another one with his weapon. At hearing this, Reina suggested that they take this fight onto the roof so they could get more space to take them all out.

Cloud nodded and they headed up the stairs and out the door as the Heartless also followed after them.

(With Sora and Vincent)

While the two of them made their way through the near endless numbers of Heartless, Sora saw and heard something he never thought he'd see in this kind of situation: a dog, and not just any kind of dog either- it was a blond/white husky with a red nose and a black collar with the roman numeral '9' on the collar…they both watched as said dog tore through the Heartless in a fury of fangs and claws as it made its' way to what looked like…

"Vincent, maybe if we follow that dog it will lead us back to our friends."

"Agreed. Let's go!"

While they followed the dog, they also found their way back to 7th Heaven as someone was watching them from a distance with an amused smirk on her face.

(Here's where a twist comes in…see if you can guess who this woman is)

"Heh heh…well well Sora, you've grown up quite a lot from 3 years ago…you've also made a mess of things within my Organization, so now I think it's time you help me rebuild it from the ground up."

As she watched the scene unfold before her, a portal opened behind her and a man with long red hair dressed in a long black coat stepped out of the portal and leaned down behind her on one knee…he also had pale gold eyes and a scar over his right eye that stopped just at the corner of his mouth.

"What is your report, Arkham?"

As Arkham stood, he straightened up and you could now see that he was at least 6'4" whereas his 'leader' was 5'9". "Yes, my lady…as you can see, the Heartless and Nobodies are drawing the boy out into the open to be captured…although I'm not sure what part the dog plays in all this."

"The dog doesn't matter…are things progressing as they should?"

"Yes, I'm having Ming handle it…she should have our Organization up and running again soon, but I'm not so sure of the other members being of any use to us at the moment."

"It's alright…in any case, Sora will soon come to me either by his own will or by force…have Zenu and Naila proceed as instructed, and report back again when more progress has been made."

"Yes, my lady."

Arkham said before he disappeared back through the portal as the battle started to reach its' end.

"Now then, Sora…what will you do when _I_ show up and make you pay for what you did to me on that day 3 years ago? Will you stand against me, or join me? The choice will be up to you, my little Keyblade Master."

(Back with Sora and Vincent, 7th Heaven rooftop)

As the Heartless started to die down, Sora couldn't help but wonder just who it was that made so many of them appear all at once but he'd have to focus on that later as he was getting rather exhausted from all the fighting he was doing.

It was at this moment that he felt like he was going to faint when a Neo-Shadow jumped at him, intent on taking his heart.

"Sora, watch out!" shouted Vincent as he blocked its' attack with his metal gauntlet and stood in front of Sora to protect him, the Shadow getting back up to try again with its' attack.

"Vincent, you'll lose your heart if you don't protect yourself too! I don't want that to happen to you!"

"That doesn't matter if I lose you! I won't let you lose your heart over me, you're far more important than I will ever be! Come and get me, Shadow!"

As the Neo-Shadow jumped at Vincent, he looked at Sora with a smile that you couldn't see due to his cowl, and just as he thought it was all going to end that same dog they'd followed took down the Heartless and made it disappear in a haze of blackness just like all the rest of them.

The dog then sat there looking at all of them, and Reina chose this moment to also look at the dog and hugged it around the neck as Reno started sneezing like crazy.

"Reina, get rid of that thing!"

"No, I'm keeping him! I've always wanted a dog like this, and now I have him so if you're allergic then that's too bad! He's staying with me…I'll call him Nikki, and starting today he'll be my best friend."

"Oh thanks! It's nice to show you care too, Reina!" said Yuffie in a huff as she puffed her cheeks with a pout on her face.

"Well, next to you Yuffie…I mean it!"

"Well, I suppose you're forgiven…just as long as you don't say that ever again."

"(chuckles) Ok, I won't…come on Nikki, we're going for a walk!"

As the two of them ran off, everyone assessed the damage and spent the rest of the day cleaning up the bar along with the rest of the town. By the time night fell, everyone was dog tired (no pun intended lol) and soon everyone except Cloud and Vincent was asleep so they decided to talk about what had happened today, as well as a more pressing matter in Vincent's opinion.

"Cloud…I need to talk to you about something important."

"Alright Vincent, what is it? The last time you wanted to talk like this, we ended up making out…so, what is it this time?"

"Well, it's about Sora…I've accepted the fact that you and Aerith are happily married, but Sora makes me feel like I felt about you almost 20 years ago…what could this mean?"

"It means that you're falling in love with my son…but, while I accept that I want you and Sora to both talk about this before we leave Nibelheim in 2 weeks, or you might not get another chance at this. Anyway, you deserve to be happy Vincent…just keep in mind _Sora's_ happiness, too. Good night, my friend."

As Cloud went back to his room, Vincent was left with this realization as well as Cloud's so-called 'blessing' and decided that maybe tomorrow would be a good day after all.

T.B.C.- Tell me watcha think…also, see if you can guess the identity of the mysterious woman and what she and her followers have in mind for Sora, so please read and review- I'd greatly appreciate it! Thank u!


	4. Finding Light Among The Dark

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N- Well, here we are with Ch.4! I never thought it'd come along so well, but it has…anyway, for those of you who have guessed the identity of the mysterious woman from ch.3, I'm so proud of y'all! Anyway, any other pairings that u want just message me and I'll include them somewhere along the way…so, here's the chapter!

**Ch.4- Finding Light Among the Dark**

As Sora lay in his bed, he couldn't help but wonder how his friends were doing and decided to call Kairi. Taking out his cell phone, he hit the redial button and waited for the other end to pick up.

'_Hello?_'

'_Hey Kairi, it's Sora.'_

'_Hi, Sora! How's your trip going so far?'_

'_It's fine…listen, I need to talk to you about something pretty serious.'_

'…_Ok, what is it? Worried about Riku?'_

'_Yes…and no, but it's still pretty important.'_

'_Alright, what is it?'_

'_First of all, how are you and the others doing?'_

'_We're doing fine, just missing you is all.'_

'_Great, and…I think I'm in love, but I'm not falling back in love with Riku- I'm falling for someone else.'_

'_Well, if it's not Riku then who is it this time?'_

'…_.it's a friend of my dad's, his name's Vincent and he's really kind but I can see that he's so lonely…I'm not sure what I should do, Kairi. Any ideas?'_

'_Well, do you have a picture of him? I'd like to see him for myself.'_

It was at this moment that Sora remembered he'd asked Vincent earlier that day if he could take his picture with his phone. Vincent had objected at first, but ultimately gave in when Sora had given him his signature puppy-dog eyes and even threw in a few tears for added effectiveness, inwardly happy when he finally got him to let him snap a picture and put Kairi on hold while he sent it to her before he switched it back to 'talk'.

'_Oh..my..god, he's so handsome! How'd you luck out with this guy?! Anyway, Riku's been a bit…depressed since you broke up with him, and I'm worried.'_

'_Well, I never thought he'd feel that way…but, he needs to find someone to love him like I did.'_

'…_He also told me something strange today…he said '_I'm following my heart and going home'_ any idea what he means by that Sora?'_

'_Not really, but-'_

As the sentence trailed off, he heard a knock at the door and wondered who it could possibly be at this hour of the night and went to answer it, now silently wishing he hadn't…

…Because standing there in front of him, dripping wet from the rain like a kicked puppy was the last person on earth that he'd expected to see.

"Riku?! What are you doing here, and how'd you find this place? Never mind that for now, get inside before you catch cold."

Sora then motioned for him to sit on the couch while he went and got a fresh towel for his ex and turned back to the phone to talk to Kairi again.

'_Sora, I thought you'd hung up for a minute there…what happened?'_

'_Riku's here…how'd he find me?!'_

'_Honestly, I don't know how he got there…but, I distinctly remember him saying that he was going to find you and try to fix things with you…why don't you go tend to him, and I'll talk to you tomorrow ok?'_

'_Sure, goodnight Kairi- and thank you.'_

'_(giggles) Sure thing, Sora…goodnight.'_

Sora smiled before he hung up after the other end got quiet and he brought the towel to Riku, hoping to get some answers from him.

"Ok, Riku…what are you doing here, and why were you trying to get here in the rain?"

As Riku looked up at Sora from under the towel, he couldn't help but feel so small and ashamed of how he'd treated him a few days ago. Sure, he'd let his anger get the better of him at the time but that was because he didn't want to lose the one person who made him feel like he truly meant something to anyone, although in hindsight he supposed that was no excuse for how he'd behaved and decided he needed to make things right.

"Well, after you'd left on this trip with your dad, I was so frustrated at how you just broke it off with me- but when I got home my dad told me how it was his and your father's idea because they both felt it was better that way for us…I got so depressed after that, especially after I'd looked back on how I reacted and truly hurt you in more ways than one."

"Well, you _did_ hurt my wrist…but that still doesn't explain how you managed to get all the way out here, and in the rain no less."

"I know, and I'm so ashamed at my actions towards you…I hijacked my dad's motorcycle and rode off on it, but it took me awhile to find this town…I never knew that our parents used to live here almost 20 years ago…I came to apologize for everything I'd done and hope you'll give me another chance."

"Well, I accept your apology Riku but I can't take you back now…I have someone else who makes me feel happy, but I'm not sure if he feels the same way…(chuckles) Maybe it's just a fleeting crush, but I genuinely like him with all my heart."

While Riku listened quietly to Sora's confession, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy well up in his heart and he didn't want to blow a possible chance of rebuilding a relationship with Sora, but he decided that he would get some answers out of him before the night was over.

"Well, who exactly _is_ it that you feel so strongly for right now?"

"…(mumbles) Vincent Valentine."

"What? I can't hear you Sora…"

"It's Vincent Valentine, ok?! He's the one I like! Are you happy now?!"

'You and I go hard at each other like we're going to war.  
You and I go rough, we keep throwing things and slamming the door.  
You and I get so damn dysfunctional, we start keeping score.  
You and I get sick, yeah, I know that we can't do this no more.'

"Wait, is he the one I saw at the tavern earlier? Tall, long black hair, red eyes, wearing red and black with a 3-barrelled gun on his hips?"

"Y-yeah, that's him…were you spying on him Riku?!"

"I wouldn't call it 'spying', more like 'assessing'…Sora, he looks like he's old enough to be your father!"

"So? Last I checked, _we_ were over and done with…unless you think I'll just come crawling back to you like some desperate house wife?!"

"Well, I was hoping you'd still love me like I do you! I don't want you falling into something you'll regret."

"Oh, like how I ended up with you?"

It was in that moment that a loud _SMACK_ could be heard echoing throughout the empty hotel as Riku had just slapped Sora angrily, leaving him with a stunned look on his face and a red mark where Riku's hand had connected with his face.

'Yeah, but baby there you go again, there you go again, making me love you.  
Yeah, I stopped using my head, using my head, let it all go.  
Got you stuck on my body, on my body, like a tattoo.  
And now I'm feeling stupid, feeling stupid, crawling back to you.'

"Riku, you- you actually hit me…you've never even so much as raised your hand to me, so why would you-"

"Because, Sora- I still love you very much and I want you back! I'll do anything for you, so please take me back into your heart again…won't you give me one last chance with you? Won't you forgive me?"

As Sora looked into Riku's pleading ocean-blue orbs, he looked down at the ground and felt tears well up into his own sapphire eyes and did the only thing he could do at the moment…he ran past Riku and out the door into the chilling rain as he tried to find someplace where he could get his thoughts in order.

(At Reina and Reno's house, 9:45 p.m.)

As Reina Sinclaire came inside from the rain, she took Nikki's leash, harness, and coat off of him as she grabbed a towel off of the table and dried off his feet. As she walked into the kitchen to fix Nikki some dinner, she saw a note on the fridge door from her brother.

'_Reina- I'm going to be working late tonight, so go ahead and have dinner. Be sure to remember to feed Nikki, and don't let ANYONE into the house unless it's one of our friends, Sora, or me. I'll see you tomorrow. –Reno' _

After reading the note, she looked around in the fridge to find something for Nikki and realized that she didn't have any dog food…so, she took out some leftover uneaten chicken and put it in a bowl as the dog sat there staring at her as she also got out another bowl and filled it with water. Reina then looked down at him and said "I know it's not much in the way of food, but it's all I have until I go shopping tomorrow, so it'll hafta do for now. Anyway, eat up while I go take a shower."

As she set the food down along with the water, she noticed that he seemed a bit apprehensive- almost like he'd forgotten how to eat, but after getting over his nervousness he stuck his nose into the bowl and started chowing down as Reina went upstairs after releasing a breath she didn't even realize she was holding.

(with Sora, 9:55 p.m.)

As he ran down the street, Sora could hear Riku's yelling and his footsteps as he chased him all through the town. If Sora could tell you one thing that he could do better than Riku, it's that he could always run faster than him- which in this case was a good thing, because Riku was getting closer and he could hear him calling his name in a desperate voice. "Sora! Come back, I wanna talk to you! Slow down!" but he just kept running as his clothes got even more soaked with both sweat and rainwater.

After what felt like hours but was really only 10 minutes, Sora turned a corner and found himself at a dead end as Riku finally caught up with a panting, shaking, shivering Sora. As he backed up into a wall, Riku moved forward with desire and pleading in his eyes…when he got close enough, Sora closed his eyes waiting for another slap, or a punch but all he felt was Riku pull him into an embrace that was tight but gentle and could feel Riku shaking with what Sora could only guess was crying.

'So I cross my heart and I hope to die,  
That I'll only stay with you one more night.  
And I know I said it a million times,  
But I'll only stay with you one more night.'

As the two of them stayed that way for the better half of 5 minutes, Riku whispered into Sora's ear "Please, if you won't have me back, then at least stay with me for just one more night…please, Sora?"

At hearing Riku break down and start quietly weeping, Sora couldn't help but embrace his ex in a warm hug…before he looked up at him and said "Fine Riku, but only one night. If Vincent or my dad find you at the hotel, there could be trouble."

As he wiped the tears from his eyes, he looked at Sora and said "Thank you…and trust me, it will be the last night." There were no more words as Riku and Sora both headed back to the hotel to sleep off the awkward and tear filled uncertainties between them, neither knowing that trouble was about to find them.

(Back at Reina's house, 10:00 p.m.)

While Reina finished toweling off after her shower, she put on her pajamas and headed downstairs to find Nikki snoozing on the couch- and couldn't help but giggle at his position: he was on his back, legs spread and his tongue hanging out and making a noise that was caught between nose-whistling and what she guessed to be snoring. As she took the opposite side, Reina turned on the t.v. and kept flipping through the channels until she found 'Animal Planet' and one of her favorite shows- 'Dogs 101' and settled in with her dog for what would be a long night.

(3 hours later)

As Reno opened the door, he took out his anti-allergy medicine and took 2 pills with his coffee when he saw that Reina had nodded off during an episode of 'Weird, True and Freaky' and smiled as he turned the t.v. off and covered her with his jacket, then went upstairs into his room and settled in for some sleep, because he had to get up at 6:00 in the morning and go to work at Shinra Electric Power Co., while he cursed his husband for giving him the night shift- _again_.

(with Sora and Riku, 1:20 a.m.)

As Riku lay asleep in the bed, Sora grabbed his violin and headed out the door into the night, knowing full well that Riku would still be there in the morning…plus he couldn't get any sleep having his ex-boyfriend so close, his heart just wasn't in it anymore and he quietly left out the front door into the fog of an early morning. While he was walking, Sora felt a presence that wasn't anyone he knew and then kept walking until he was in the park and sitting on a bench as he took his violin out and started playing a simple melody to the sky, stars, and fog.

'I remember when we broke up the first time,  
Saying, "This is it, I've had enough," 'cause like  
We hadn't seen each other in a month,  
When you said you needed space. (What?)  
Then you come around again and say  
"Baby, I miss you and I swear I'm gonna change, trust me."  
Remember how that lasted for a day?  
I say, "I hate you," we break up, you call me, "I love you."'

As the notes lingered in the morning breeze, he looked up to see a man with long crimson hair dressed in a long black cloak with what looked like a scythe with a crescent moon-shaped blade that was easily double Sora's height staring down at him with pale, molten-gold eyes and a small smile on his face.

"Pardon me, but are you Sora Strife?" he asked in a voice that reminded him of Luxord, but it clearly wasn't him- Luxord had short blond hair, not long red hair that fell down around this guy's face like free flowing lava and looked at him while gripping his instrument in alert.

"That depends on who's asking. Who are you?"

"I am Arkham, and my leader would like to speak with you…she's awaiting your arrival, and if you're thinking of escaping then don't bother." He then snapped his fingers and at least 50 Samurai Nobodies appeared in a circle around the two of them ready to strike at a moment's notice. "I have plenty more positioned around the town waiting for my orders, as well as the orders of my associates. I'll only call them off if you agree to accompany me to our headquarters…so what say you, Keyblade Master?"

As Sora looked around him, he realized that he couldn't possibly win this fight alone- worse yet, there were more than he could handle if he somehow escaped…he really saw no way out of this, so he did what he thought he'd never do in this lifetime- he gave up.

"Alright, Arkham…I'll come along, but only if you and your associates call off the Nobodies. I won't allow any of my friends to get hurt."

As Arkham stared at the boy's determined eyes, he saw no deception in Sora's words and decided to call them off. Truth was, he was bluffing- he'd only brought along the ones he'd summoned just now, but he never imagined the boy would be clever enough to both agree with him and threaten him at the same time…no wonder _she_ was interested in him, and opened a portal behind him while motioning to Sora to follow him.

"Is it alright if I bring along my violin? I have to practice for a symphony orchestra piece at my school, and I don't want to get out of practice."

"Yes, and besides, we could use some music…though I never imagined that you were a cultured sort of individual, Keyblade Master."

"Call me Sora, Arkham."

"Very well then, Sora." The two of them fell into comfortable silence as they made their way through the inky blackness of the portal until they stepped out into a place that Sora was unfamiliar with. It reminded him of 'The World That Never Was' yet it wasn't, it looked a lot like a place his father had mentioned once…Sora tried for the life of him to remember, but couldn't recall the name when he heard Arkham speak to him.

"Well, we're here. The Shadowed Ruins, and our destination…" Sora watched as he pointed to a massive white and silver castle-like structure "is that building over there. Let's get moving, daylight only lasts an hour in this place and the rest of that time will be nightfall."

As the two of them kept walking, they soon picked up the pace and made it to the building's gates just as night had started descending upon them. Sora then watched Arkham put in a simple code and kept his eye on the numbers dialed in: 5,8,9,2,6,7,1,4,3,0. The doors opened just as what looked like Heartless were trying to make their way up the cliff and Arkham ushered them in as the gates closed rather quickly just as the 'Heartless' were locked out.

It was at this moment that Sora chose to ask "So, where exactly are we…and what _were_ those things that tried to attack us?"

"All in good time, Sora. For now, let me be the first to welcome you to our headquarters…Welcome to Organization Zero, and if you would just follow me I'll introduce you to some of our other members…they're in a meeting right now with our leader, but I'm sure they'll not mind us coming in late."

As Sora quietly obeyed him, he kept good time and saw how well put together the entire building (or at least as much of it as he could see in that moment) was: it was highly advanced, some parts having state-of-the-art technology and computers, as well as laboratories and a cafeteria with an outdoor patio that led into some sort of garden with a gardener who was tending to it. Other parts were a little less advanced, but still pretty close to it.

"Pretty impressive, isn't it? We even have a fully stocked library with every kind of book you could possibly want to read, as well as a training and battle simulation room. Maybe I'll show you sometime. But for now, we're here."

As they stopped in front of two large double doors, Sora could distinctly hear voices on the other side- what sounded like 3 girls and at least 1 or 2 guys and they were arguing about something, but he couldn't tell at the moment what all was being said. He then watched as Arkham raised his hand and pushed a button then spoke into what looked like an intercom of some sort.

"It's Arkham- I've brought the Keyblade Master, just as you instructed. Shall I show him in?"

There was a long pause before the voice on the other end answered "I'll let you both in, and send him to me when you come in."

"Understood." As the doors opened very quietly, Sora took notice of who was in the room- there was a woman with long platinum hair that was flowing behind her and she was sitting at the very head of the table…she wore a black and silver-white business suit, with piercing steel-gold eyes that seemed to bore into you. To her left was a young man with short gray-black hair and dark green eyes, he was wearing the same black coat as Arkham. On the right were 2 girls- Sora guessed they were twins, the girl on the left had bright blond hair and red eyes that was pulled into a high ponytail as it flowed down and almost touched the ground with her bangs over her right eye. The one on the right looked just like her but her hair was all white and was much shorter, her eyes were a sharp silver-orange with her bangs over her left eye. All of them wore the standard long black coat that Sora knew all Nobodies in Organization 13 wore, and simply stared at everyone in the room as the woman spoke to Sora in a smooth, almost purring voice.

"Come here, Sora…I want to get a good look at you, it's been so long since I've last seen you."

As Sora listened to her words, he couldn't help but feel like he knew her somehow- but he just couldn't figure out how, all he knew was that she was very important in this Organization and as long as he was here she held authority over him…he walked towards her and stopped at least a few feet from her seat.

"Permit me to…introduce the rest of our members to you. You've already met Arkham, the other young man is Zenu…the twins are Naila (points to girl on the left) and her sister, Ming (points to the girl on the right). And I am Xandra, the leader of Organization Zero."

T.B.C.- Oooh, the secret's out! What could Xandra possibly have in store for Sora? Read to find out! 


	5. Safe And Sound

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Well, here's Ch.5! Woo, I feel so alive! I can't wait to see your reactions when you learn the truth behind Xandra, and the true purpose of Organization Zero…well, I won't keep y'all waiting so here's Ch.5! Enjoy!

**Ch.5- Safe and Sound**

As Sora stood there listening quietly to her, he thought about what she'd just said…something about what she told him just now didn't sit right in his mind, it's almost like he'd met her before…but that was impossible, he'd never seen or heard of her before today, nor had he heard of Organization Zero…but he stood there patiently and waited for her to continue.

"Well Sora, do you have any questions for me?"

"Yeah, actually- why exactly did you send for me?"

"That will be revealed in time, but for now just understand that we _need_ you here…besides, you want to protect your friends don't you?"

It was at this moment that the realization hit him, and he felt like such an idiot for not realizing sooner.

"Y-you're the one who sent all those Heartless to attack Nibelheim yesterday!"

"So, you figured it out…I never thought you would, but now you realize- I can very easily do it again if you refuse to join me, but if you cooperate with us then I swear on my life that no harm will come to you or your friends and family…so, do we have a deal Sora?"

As Sora stood there with a shocked expression, it quickly changed to one of a boy who realized in this moment that there was absolutely nothing he could do at this time- his friends, his father, and even Vincent would all be killed if he tried to escape or fight them all, so he had only one option left to him- grim though it was.

"Ok, Xandra…I'll cooperate with you, and I won't try to escape or stand against you…I am under you orders now, so just tell me what I need to do."

As she heard him submit to her will fully, she couldn't help the smile that graced her delicate features in that moment. "Wonderful, Sora- and you don't have to do anything right now except get settled in…but from now on, you will address me as 'Lady Xandra'…is that understood?"

"Yes, Lady Xandra."

"Good, now then- Chisato!" As she called out this name, a young man with disheveled blond hair and gray eyes stepped out from the door behind Xandra's chair, looking rather bored and tired.  
"Yeah yeah, what is it this time?"

"Show Sora to his room, and set out a cloak for him."

As he looked at Sora, Chisato couldn't help the hungry look in his eyes to show itself- he wanted this boy all to himself…and he would have him in due time.

"Alright then, come with me."

The two of them left the room as Xandra dismissed the rest of the members and was left alone with her thoughts…finally, she had Sora all to herself and would make him pay for what he'd done all those years ago when he forever closed off The World That Never Was.

(30 minutes later, Sora's new room)

As Sora took in his current living quarters, he saw that the curtains were blue like sapphires and that there was also a closet for clothes, a hamper for dirty cloaks and laundry, as well as a bathroom and a nightstand with a few books on it. As he looked around the room, Sora felt a little more at ease than when he'd first arrived but was still on guard around all the members- even Chisato, who then turned to leave…but not before he handed Sora his cloak, watching as the boy put it on and noted that it was a perfect fit, the color seemed to enhance the contrast between his pale skin and the pure black of the cloak covered his clothes, almost as if Sora was wrapped up in pure darkness itself.

"If you like, you can wander around the building a little bit but stay away from the basement and the 5th floor…they're off-limits to everyone except Lady Xandra and the rest of the members. Other than that, please make yourself comfortable. Dinner will be ready in a few hours and the cafeteria is right near the garden."

Chisato said before he left him to his own devices. Sora decided to go into the garden and try to relax with his violin, so with that thought in mind he left his room and went to explore a bit.

(The Garden)

While Sora took in the garden, he saw that it was daytime in the garden while it was night outside. "If you're wondering why it's daytime in here and nightfall out there…" Sora turned towards the sound of the voice and found himself looking at the gardener he saw earlier "it's because there's a daylight generator in place in this garden…many of the flowers here can't survive in the darkness surrounding the Valley."

While Sora looked at him, he couldn't help but feel like he'd seen him before but pushed that thought aside as he simply took a seat and started to play his violin as he felt the words leave his lips and fill the garden air.

'I remember tears streaming down your face  
When I said, "I'll never let you go"  
When all those shadows almost killed your light  
I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"  
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight'

As the words left his lips in a gentle fashion, the gardener couldn't help but stand there and kept listening intently as Sora kept going.

'Just close your eyes  
The sun is going down  
You'll be alright  
No one can hurt you now  
Come morning light  
You and I'll be safe and sound'

As Sora kept at it, the strings themselves had taken on a rather haunting tempo as he let the words flow freely from his lips.

'Don't you dare look out your window, darling,  
Everything's on fire  
The war outside our door keeps raging on  
Hold on to this lullaby  
Even when the music's gone  
Gone'

When the gardener heard this, he imagined in his mind a war scene where a town was being burned to the ground and people were dying as tears streamed down his face when Sora picked up on the song again.

'Just close your eyes  
The sun is going down  
You'll be alright  
No one can hurt you now  
Come morning light  
You and I'll be safe and sound'

Sora himself wondered if he would ever truly be safe as he finished up with his melody.

'Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
La La (La La)  
La La (La La)  
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
Oooh, Oooh, Oooh, Oooh  
La La (La La)'

'Just close your eyes  
You'll be alright  
Come morning light,  
You and I'll be safe and sound...'

As Sora finished playing, he looked up and saw the gardener had given him a pair of red roses…that was when Sora realized that he _had_ met this very same man years before but never thought he'd see him again in this lifetime.

"M-marluxia?!"

"So, you recognized me…good, because I need your help Sora."

(In Nibelheim, 7th Heaven lobby)

As Riku woke up from what he thought was a dream, he saw that Sora was not in his bed with him…which meant that being around him was too painful, and this caused him to let out a quiet, shaking sob as he felt tears stream down his face and hit the floor.

It was then that he looked at the clock on the nightstand and saw that it was 8:45 in the morning, he headed downstairs to find Cloud asleep on the couch. As he stared down at him, Riku nudged him and woke him up from a deep sleep.

"Good morning, Mr. Strife."

As Cloud saw who'd greeted him, he shot up quickly and tried getting some answers out of him. "Riku, what are _you_ doing here?! Moreover, _how'd_ you get here? I thought you were at school today…if your parents find out about this-"

"Relax, we have the rest of the week off to get ready for the next semester. As for how I got here, I took dad's bike…I also came to apologize to Sora, but he just took off into the rain last night after our fight…I finally convinced him to just let me stay with him for one last night, but when I woke up he was gone and I was alone again. I am so sorry for treating Sora the way I did, and I only hope that _you'll_ forgive me too."

While Cloud sat here and listened to Riku, he realized that Riku was not only being sincere but that he was right- Sora was gone!

"Where's Sora?! Do you know where he went?"

"No, after we came back last night I fell asleep but I'm guessing he left shortly afterwards…but, I've no idea where he could've possibly gone."

"Well, we have to find him and soon! Who knows what could've happened to him?!"

As Cloud called all his friends, he saw Vincent standing there in the corner with a scowl on his face that couldn't normally be seen but after spending so much time around his friend he had learned to read his expressions.

"Vincent, do you happen to know anything about where Sora could've gone? Anything at all?! Please, tell me."

As Vincent looked at his once-crush, he realized he owed it not just to Cloud but to Sora to tell him what he knew. "…Well, I saw him run off last night with that other boy while it was raining…I'm guessing they weren't on good terms with each other."

"Yes, Riku is Sora's ex-boyfriend…anyway, what after that?"

"Hmm…well, they both went back to the hotel and I had left to go buy an umbrella but I didn't need it after the rain had stopped, but then I saw Sora head off to the park and he had his violin with him so I followed him to make sure he was safe, as I listened to him play it I saw a man in a black cloak approach him."

"What did this man look like? What was his name?!"

"Well, he had long red hair and pale-gold eyes, he was at least 6'5" and had a weapon with him…it was a crescent scythe, and he said his name was Arkham. He also threatened Sora by saying he would have all the Nobodies he had attack everyone in the town unless Sora went with him, then he opened a strange black portal and they left through it…I tried to stop Sora but it was too late, they were gone before I could reach them…I'm so sorry Cloud, I should've acted sooner."

As Cloud saw that Vincent was nearly on the verge of tears, he knew then that Vincent was by this point in love with his son, and he knew that Vincent would never lie to him.

"It's alright Vincent. You at least got a good look at his abductor, now all we have to do is find Sora and bring him home…Listen up, everyone- check the whole town! Find Sora, and bring him home!"

As everyone spread out to search the whole town, Reno went home to tell Reina of the unfortunate news concerning Sora.

(Reina & Reno's house, 9:30 a.m.)

While Reina hitched Nikki up into his harness and jacket, she looked up just as Reno busted through the door with a troubled look on his face.

"Reno, what's the matter?! You look like someone died, what happened?"

As Reno looked at his twin sibling, he sat in front of her until they were eye level and nearly choked on a sob as he relayed the bad news.

"It's Sora- he's been kidnapped and we don't know where he's been taken…maybe (sneezes due to the dog), maybe Nikki can find him…I never thought I'd say this, but bring him with us."

As Reina let the news sink in, she almost cried but decided to be strong for Sora's sake as she hitched up her dog and they both headed out to help look for him.

T.B.C.- What will happen to Sora now, and will his friends save him in time? Read to find out! 


	6. Trapped In An Empty Spiral

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Welcome to Ch.6! Finally, it's all starting to come together…how long will Xandra keep Sora prisoner against his will, and what could she possibly have in mind for him? Moreover, what role does Marluxia play in this and who else from Organization 13 will I choose to bring back? Read to find out!

**Ch.6- Trapped in an Empty Spiral**

While Sora stood there and stared into the eyes of the 'Graceful Assassin', he couldn't help but wonder _how_ he wasstanding there in front of him.

"Well, what exactly do you need my help with?"

"I'm sure you've felt something about that woman…like you've seen her before?"

"Y-yeah, she reminds me of Xemnas- but I killed him, and I thought you guys were all dead…but I managed to rescue Axel and Riku…so why are _you_ still alive? Last I checked I had beaten you _and_ all the rest of Organization XIII."

"Well, after you sealed off this world we all were left in the darkness again…until Xandra found a way to bring some of us back, but the only ones besides me that she'd managed to salvage were Zexion and Vexen. The others that you've met were ones she'd created from the remains of Xaldin, Luxord, Larxene, and Namine…we don't know _what_ had happened to Demyx, it's possible that he's still alive but not in this world with us…anyway, you should try talking to Professor Ventrus, he might be able to help you to learn more about this…his lab's on the second floor- it's the first door on the right."

As Sora took in all that Marluxia had just told him, he decided he'd give him the benefit of the doubt and thanked him before he walked out of the garden, then made his way to the elevator and pushed the 2nd floor button…waiting as it took him upstairs and to the lab.

(with Vincent)

As he searched the whole of the north part of the city, Vincent remembered what had happened last night and the look on Sora's face as he was taken away from him.

(Flashback, last night- 1:10 a.m.)

As Vincent sat in the tavern, he saw that the rain had started up again and knew that he would get soaked in no time flat as he paid for the drinks he'd finished downing. As he turned to leave, he watched as Sora raced past the window outside with a look of desperation and fear in his eyes…something that made Vincent angry, but held his temper in check as he saw another boy chase after him with sadness on his young face…he could only guess that this was the same boy that had given Sora reason to come to Nibelheim, so he decided to wait and see if they came back this way.

After 5 or so minutes, he saw them come back and head off to their hotel as he wished to be the one in that kid's place- next to Sora, walking home together.

(1:15 a.m.) As Vincent finished paying for an umbrella that he didn't really need anymore because the rain had slowed down to a mere gentle pitter-patter on the ground, he saw Sora walking all alone with his violin towards a park and decided to follow him to make sure he was alright. In the last 5 days that Sora had spent in town with his father, Vincent had found himself slowly yet quickly falling for him and wanted him to stay with him…but that was up to Sora, it was _his_ choice to make.

After following him for a while he saw Sora sit on a bench and start strumming the violin, which brought the notes to life and felt that he could sleep soundly just by hearing the mere sound of the strings when he saw a man cloaked all in black approach Sora. He couldn't make out everything that was said between them, but caught their conversation in bits and pieces:

"_Pardon me….Sora…"_

"_who's asking…."_

"_I am Arkham…Leader…awaiting our arrival…escaping…don't bother."_

At hearing the very clear threat, he reached for his 'Cerberus' pistol as he saw at least 50 or so Nobodies show up at the snap of his fingers and caught more of their conversation:

"…_plenty more positioned…orders of my associates…what say you, Keyblade Master?"_

"…_I'll come along…won't allow my friends to get hurt."_

As the man he heard call himself 'Arkham' open up a portal behind him, the Nobodies disappeared as he stepped through the portal and watched as Sora started to follow. He realized then that Sora'd been tricked, and ran to try and stop him before he lost Sora forever.

"_Sora! Stop, it's a trap! 'Don't leave me here alone…' Don't follow him!"_

As Sora looked at him, his expression very clearly said '_Don't follow after me, I don't want you to get hurt._' And with one final look at him, Sora was gone while Vincent was left standing there alone in the park, tears streaming down his face as he raised his head to the night sky and screamed in loss, sorrow, and agony as he thought of how he was going to tell Cloud of all that he'd seen that night.

(Flashback ends)

While Vincent let the memory replay itself in his mind, he swore he'd find where Arkham had taken Sora and get him back home or else he wouldn't be able to face Cloud or his friends ever again.

(with Sora, Organization Zero 2nd floor)

As the elevator doors opened up to reveal the 2nd floor, Sora found the door that Marluxia had told him led to Prof. Ventrus' lab and knocked on the door.

"Hello, is anyone in there? Hello?! I'm coming in now."

When Sora had finished knocking, he opened the door to find the whole place _covered_ from top to bottom in what looked like research papers, books, and various chemical equipment from flask to tubes, beakers, and coils. He was no scientist, but Sora could tell that _someone_ had to have left this mess- a lab doesn't get this messy by itself.

"Hello, is there anyone in here? Hello-" since he wasn't looking where he was going, Sora had bumped into a massive pillar of books and watched as they fell on top of him, burying him in science and physics books.

"WHO'S OUT THERE!?" yelled a clearly irritated voice as Sora had somehow managed to dig himself out from under the mountain of hard and paper-back books as the source of said irritated voice came out of the back room and into the literal sea of papers.

"Oh no! You've knocked them all over the place! Quickly, stack them all back up!"

"(sarcastically) Yeah, thanks a lot for the help! I could've died from all the books…(drops sarcasm) are you Prof. Ventr- wait…Vexen!?…how did-"

"I come back when you so clearly thwarted and defeated me? It's quite simple really…when you banished us to eternal darkness, that woman found our weapons which contained our memories and our essence…she then used a strange machine and brought us back to life…but sadly, not all of us were restored to our full power and memories…"

"Well, how many was she able to revive? Because I don't want to have to fight you again."

"Calm yourself, Sora…we weren't revived to fight you, and the only ones who still retained their true 'selves' are myself, Marluxia- who I'm assuming you've already met again, and Axel…whom you saved from eternal damnation."

"Well, what of the others?! What about Demyx, Luxeaus, Namine? And what about Zexion, Xaldin, Xigbar, and Luxord! What of them?!"

"….I don't know what happened to them, sadly- but I do know that somehow Saix managed to come back, however he isn't in this place anymore…where he's gone I don't know. In any case, the ones who didn't regain their original forms- you've already met them…they've been given new form, and I don't think you want me to sit here and tell you all this…hold on, let me give you a copy of all the data I have on this subject as well as the answers to questions I know that you're so dying to ask."

As Sora watched Vexen fish around for the data, he decided that this place could use a _serious_ cleaning. While Sora looked around the lab, he was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Vexen say "Ah, here it is! This disc should contain everything you need to know, as well as the answers to all your questions…guard it with your life! Don't let _her _take it from you…that being said, would you like to help me clean my lab a little? I told myself I'd do it this afternoon, but I got so wrapped up in my experiments that I forgot all about it until now."

As Sora looked at Vexen, he decided it would help while away the time until dinner was ready when he saw that the clock in the lab read only about 1:45 in the afternoon. "Sure, after all two heads are better than one- we'll get done quicker."

The two of them set to work silently cleaning up the disaster area of a laboratory.

(5 hours later)

Vexen's lab finally looked like a lab again- everything was catalogued, organized and put away in their proper places, all the lab equipment cleaned, sterilized and put up where it was supposed to be and the floor was actually visible again! As the two of them admired their work, Sora glanced at the clock on the desk and saw that it was almost 7:00!

"Oh shit, we're late for dinner!"

"Then you go on ahead, I'll eat in my lab…I usually do anyway, just have Naila send it up to me via a cart. And thank you for the help with my lab today, Sora."

As Sora stared at Vexen, he couldn't help but think of how much he'd changed since his so-called 'rebirth' and found it to be a nice break from the maniacal science freak he was before, letting a wide smile grace his features.

"No problem, Vexen…I'll see ya later."

Sora smiled before he made his way down stairs and into the dining hall to join the others; if he was going to be trapped here, he may as well try to stay as comfortable as he could until he was rescued or found a way to escape.

(Dining Hall, 6:55 p.m.)

While everyone sat at their respective places, all eyes went to the doors as Sora let himself in and apologized for being late. He received murmurs of 'apology accepted' and 'whatever' as he sat down at the end right between Ming and Naila as he slowly ate his food, savoring the taste of it as everyone either exchanged conversation or sat there quietly eating their own food.

After dinner, the dishes were taken away to be washed while Sora decided to go to his room and get some sleep.

(Sora's Room, 9:00 p.m.)

As he lay on his bed, Sora stared at the ceiling of his room and thought of his life over the week he'd spent in Nibelheim…he had never actually expected Riku to find him way out in the country, nor had he thought he'd apologize and ask for him to forgive him, but he supposed that stranger things have happened to him in his life…he also thought of his friends, Kairi, Yuffie, Reno, Reina, Tseng, Rude, Rufus, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Cid, Barrett, Denzel and Marlene…he thought of how wonderful they all were and how he was very lucky to have met them all…and then there was Vincent Valentine, who was so mysterious yet so open at the same time.

As Sora thought more about Vincent, his heart started beating hard and he could feel a bright, burning blush cascade upon his face as he imagined Vincent looming over him, red cowl removed and on the floor, his metal hand gently caressing his face as they were trapped in a veil of midnight-black locks so soft and silky, each gazing into the other's eyes as Vincent leaned down to catch Sora's lips in a delicate yet dominating kiss, and Sora nearly had a heart attack at just the very image of it actually happening…he'd never imagined _anything_ like this with Riku, so why was it just Vincent that made him feel so broken yet so whole?

While he turned to face the wall, he thought of how he could feel so strongly for a man he'd only met barely even a week ago yet felt like he'd known him for a lifetime…and as Sora's heart kept viciously beating in his chest, he knew he had to find out for sure if his feelings were real or if they were just a delusion of his own mind.

As he closed his eyes, he found himself standing in the core of his heart- on the left side was his 'Ultimate Form' from when he'd fought Xemnas, and on the right was his 'Anti-Sora' form from when he'd lost his heart only to have it reclaimed later on.

"Maybe you two can help me…I feel such strong resonance with Vincent, but I'm not sure if I should act upon it further…what should I do?"

"**I believe that if you **_**don't**_**, you will lose your true love."**

"_No! If you let him into your heart, you'll only be betrayed gain! Push him away before it's too late!"_

"Then tell me, 'Ultima' (Sora's nickname for his Ultimate Form when they converse), why is it that I feel this way about Vincent but never did with Riku?"

"**That's because…you're falling in love with Vincent, and you long for him- you yearn to be with him but you're unsure if he feels the same…you must find out before it's too late for the both of you."**

As Sora heard Ultima tell him this, 'Amneil' (Sora's nickname for his Anti-Form when they converse) shouted "_No! You mustn't…you'll only end up falling into another cruel love that will end with you wishing you'd never pursued such a foolish thing in the first place! Push him out of your life before that happens!"_

While Sora stood there and weighed each option against the other, he realized that Ultima was right- Sora was already falling deeply in love with Vincent, and couldn't escape such a love even if he wanted to…or tried to.

'_I can't believe I never realized sooner how much I care for him…how much I want to be by his side forever, and how my heart yearns for all of him- his touch, his voice, his body, and even his scars…I need him here with me, but I don't know how to reach him and that frightens me more than anything right now…time to tell them my choice.'_

"I…I am falling in love with him, and I don't care if Amneil is right- but this time he's wrong, and I need to reach him with my desires and be with him for all time."

As Ultima smiled and Amneil frowned, Sora was brought out of his deep thoughts when he heard a knock at the door and then heard a muffled "Sora, are you awake? Can I come in and talk to you?" and realized that it was that blond guy he'd met earlier- Chisato.

"Sure, I'm awake…you can come in, Chisato."

When he heard Chisato open the door, he could've sworn he saw a lustful look in his eyes but dismissed it as him feeling tired as Chisato sat on the bed next to him while he was laying on his stomach. "Sora, you seem troubled…are you unhappy here with us?"

"Well, I'm not necessarily unhappy- I just miss my friends and my dad…I wish I could see them again, but I belong to Xandra as long as I'm chained here in this cage…I have freedom yet at the same time I'm no more free than any one of you guys."

As Chisato sat there listening to Sora's painful words, he decided it was time to make his intentions known to _his_ Keyblade Master.

(Warning: rape scene ahead, scroll down if you don't want to read it…you've been forewarned!)

While Sora lay there on the bed, he could fell Chisato stroke his shoulder and tell him "Sora, you are more free than the rest of us…I want to set you free by way of my own hands. But, I don't want you to leave us just yet…if you ever left us, left _me_…"

As Chisato hesitated, Sora took this opportunity to look up at him and saw that he was almost on the verge of tears and involuntarily reached up to wipe the unshed tears from his eyes as he looked at him with a look of acceptance and gentleness.

"Listen, Chisato- I get what you're saying, but I don't know how long I can hold out here in this place…besides, I have someone I need to be with right now- he needs me more than anything, I can feel it in my heart."

As Sora pulled his hand away, Chisato caught it in his own and used that same hand to force both of Sora's above his head and loomed over him with a desiring look in his eyes.

"Chisato?! What are you-" he was cut off as Chisato's other hand began stroking his chest under his shirt, eliciting an unwilling moan from deep in his throat as he felt his hand roaming all over his chest, stomach, and down his sides.

"P-please stop, Chisato…I-I don't want this!"

"Oh? I'd say your body is telling me otherwise, Sora…I've held back because I thought you'd come to me on your own, but it seems I have to pull you along into my hold…you belong to me Sora, and I will never _ever _let anyone else have you."

As Sora's eyes widened in terror, Chisato flipped him over, using his control over the darkness to bind Sora's hands to the top of the bed as he ripped the cloak off of his body, then yanked his shorts and boxers off of his slender hips, down his legs and jammed one of his gloves into Sora's mouth to create a make-shift gag to keep him from crying out and biting his tongue off as he unbuttoned his pants letting loose his already hardened cock as he positioned himself at Sora's entrance.

"Now then, this will only hurt for a little bit…but if you behave, it won't have to be so painful, _my_ Sora."

And then without any sort of preparation at all, Chisato harshly thrust himself deep into Sora until he was all the way in as pain ripped through him the likes of which he'd never felt before in his life, causing him to scream in agony into the glove in his mouth as tears streamed down his face while Chisato didn't even give him a chance to adjust as he gripped the boy's hips hard enough to leave very visible bruises and just kept going in and out of him at a steady and rough pace until both of them climaxed, Chisato pulling out of Sora's torn and bloody entrance, removing the glove and whispering into his ear "Goodnight, _my_ Sora…don't think this is the last time. You're mine now, Keyblade Master and I will _never_ let you escape me." And left after placing a kiss on Sora's cheek, leaving him broken, violated and begging for the pain to stop.

(rape scene over, lol)

As Sora lay on the bloody bed, he somehow got up and made it into the bathroom as he threw up until he was dry heaving, then decided to take a bath and hopefully be able to clean up his bruised body, knowing full well that the worst was yet to come.

T.B.C.- Wow, Chisato! Will Sora ever be able to escape _another_ cruel 'love' and see Vincent again, or is he forever trapped in the dark cage of a loveless relationship? Read and review to find out!


	7. Shattered

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Welcome, one and all, to Ch.7! I can't believe I actually am this far! I hope that everyone likes my fic so far, as well as the twist I put in the last chapter…btw, this next chapter will be set 5 days after Sora 'willingly' left with Arkham…now he's trapped in Chisato's hold, and how will Vincent cope with all this when Sora's been rescued? You'll have to read on to find out!

**Ch.7- Shattered**

As Sora lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, he lost track of how many days had passed since he'd been made to come along with Arkham for the sake of his friends…his friends, he wondered if he'd ever see them again. While thinking this all over, he heard Chisato come in and settle himself between Sora's legs for another round of rough sex…he had long ago stopped fighting knowing it did him no good to resist, and just gave in believing it was better not to struggle- the sooner he was done, the sooner Sora wouldn't have to look at him or endure his harsh 'love' towards him.

After Chisato had come inside Sora's entrance, he'd left without even so much as a 'Goodnight' and left Sora to his own devices as he did the only thing he could do…Sora broke down and cried until he passed out from exhaustion.

As the tears rolled down Sora's cheeks, he couldn't help but fall into a depressing mindset as he felt that his friends would never find him, deciding to try and get some peaceful rest for once in his miserable life.

(In Nibelheim, 1:25 a.m.)

As everyone returned to the hotel for the night, Cloud couldn't help but wonder if Sora was already dead…he called Aerith and told her of what had happened, and she all but went hysterical as she too ended up crying. It had already been nearly a week since Sora had gone missing, and everyone was starting to give up hope that he'd ever be found.

While Vincent peered out the window into the night sky, he heard a knock at the door and muttered 'Come in' a little more harshly than he was expecting to…he himself missed Sora more than the others, save for his dad as he heard the door open and turned around expecting to see Cloud but instead saw Riku standing there with a saddened look on his face.

"What do you want, kid?"

"…I need to talk to you, about my and Sora's…once relationship."

"Hmph, what's there to talk about? He already told me quite a bit about it."

"I'm sure he did, but he didn't tell you everything did he?"

"…."

"I'm guessing by your silence that that's a 'no'…I always thought Sora and I would be together forever, even when we were kids I liked him. As time passed we ended up falling in love, especially after he'd risked his life to free me from the darkness…I often asked myself how I could've just left him like that on the islands after I'd given myself over to my selfish desire for power, alone and searching for me…but then he disappeared for 2 years, only to later rescue me from Xemnas' hold and I was forever grateful to him. We then came back just as high school began and our relationship entered its' 3 year period. In all that time, Sora was always the one shred of light in the darkness of my heart…but, soon things got worse between us."

"How so?"

"Well, for one thing Seifer kept asking Sora out but he kept refusing, and I was being hit on constantly by Squall but I wanted no part of it…eventually though, they just gave up but that was when the fighting started, we constantly accused each other of cheating and then denying the truth of our relationship…that it was going nowhere, and we couldn't even fix it anymore. It escalated to a boiling point and we both just got sick of all the fighting every single night that we spent together, but I never imagined that _Sora_ would be the one to end it for good between us…I guess I was just so scared of losing the one glimmer of light in my heart that I ended up pushing him away forever…but even so, I still love him so very much." It was then that Riku broke down in front of Vincent and cried, not caring if he saw him like that.

"I know how much Sora cares about you, (sniffles) and it's obvious that you feel the same. I realize now that I can't possibly compete with that."

"I don't even know if he _does_ feel that way about me…but, I only realized too late that I _am_ in love with him."

"Y'know, Sora and me got into another fight the week before he got taken away…he said that there was someone else who held his heart, and I was so jealous I demanded who it was because I couldn't stand that someone else had taken my place in Sora's heart…but then he told me that it was you, and I know now that next to you I don't have a chance with him anymore."

As Vincent listened quietly to Riku's confession, he felt his heart start beating rather hard and happiness started welling up in his chest. '_It's me?! Sora said that _I'm_ the one to hold his heart? Then that means, maybe he _does_ love me after all- but I have to find out for sure from Sora, which means…'_ "Wait, you said that you once had control over the darkness right? Is it possible that you still have some of that control left in you?"

Riku then widened his eyes a touch as he realized he'd never even thought of that possibility. "It's possible, but I'm not sure of how much control I do still have left…we'll have to go to where Sora was abducted and test that theory. Listen, I'm sure that Sora _does_ have feelings for you, so take good care of him or I'll make you regret it!"

"I swear I will never hurt him, and I stake my very life on that. Now, let's go…Sora's waiting for us." The two of them nodded as they left the hotel, unaware that they were being followed.

(The park, 1:40 a.m.)

As the two of them arrived at the park where Vincent last saw Sora, he remembered the song that he'd been playing before he was taken away. Vincent was almost in tears at the memory when he heard a rustling in the bushes and whips his head around as Riku appeared beside him. "What's wrong?"

"We're not alone, someone followed us here." Said Vincent as he pulled out his Cerberus and fired off 3 warning shots at the place where he heard the sound come from.

"Come out! I know you're there, so there's no use in hiding anymore- or do you want the next ones in your skull?"

"Alright, you don't have to get all angry on us."

As the source of the voice steps out, a slightly shocked expression takes over Vincent's face. "Reina, what are you doing here? Does Reno even _know_ about you being out this late?"

"Ok, first of all I came because I know that that kid (points to Riku) knows where Sora is…secondly, he's working late again; and finally…" at this point she whistles and out comes Nikki to sit loyally at his master's side. "We're coming with you, we want to rescue Sora just as much as you do and I'll not take no for an answer!"

As Vincent looked at the two of them and then at Riku, he realized that there was no possible way to change her mind. "Fine, but don't drag us down. Riku, open the portal as best you can- try to find Sora's heart, and we may end up finding him."

"Alright, I'll try my best." As Riku closed his eyes and concentrated with every ounce of focus he had, he imagined Sora's smile, the darkness coming back into his hands as he opened his eyes and the portal was open, waiting for them to cross through.

"Let's go, I'm not sure how long this will stay stabilized and I don't want to find out so let's move it!" The 4 of them said nothing as they all jumped through the portal only to end up in a place covered by darkness and the only thing that stood out at that moment was a castle- like structure in the distance.

"I know this place…" said Vincent as Riku and Reina stared at him curiously.

"Have you been here before?" asked Riku.

Vincent merely turned to them and said "Yes, this place is what's known as the Zanarkand Ruins- but they shouldn't be this dark, for one thing there's no stars out…look."

As Vincent pointed up, they both saw that he was right- there were no stars to be found, and that disturbed Riku for some reason.

"Well, I think we should get moving."

The small group moved as silently as possible through the darkened valley like shadows in the night, not even knowing the full extent of the dangers that lay ahead of them.

(Vexen's Lab, 2:00 a.m.)

As Vexen set his coffee cup down on the desk near his computer, his eyes surveyed the cameras that were strategically placed all over the Shadowed Ruins and took a sip of the cream-colored warm fluid that served to keep him awake as he settled in for another long night.

While the warm liquid drizzled down his throat in small sips, a light came on near the console and he nearly choked on the coffee as he heard "Vexen, please come to my chambers immediately."

Sighing, he put the cup down and cleared his throat as he wiped the coffee off of his chin before it spilled all over his clean desk. "I'll be there in a minute."

As he got up and headed toward the elevator, he waited for the doors to open and then stepped inside, waiting patiently as he then pressed the 5th floor button so that the elevator took him upstairs to Xandra's room, wondering what she could want with him at this hour of the night.

(Xandra's Room, 2:10 a.m.)

As the elevator came to a stop, Vexen stepped out as the doors opened then closed behind him and he knocked rather loudly on the white door that was trimmed with cobalt and patiently waited until he heard 'Come In' and opened the door as Xandra sat on her bed.

Clearing his throat, he looked straight at her and said "I'm here, now what is it you could possibly want with me at this hour?"

"There's a couple of things I need to discuss with you, Vexen- and remember, none of it leaves this room, understood?"

"Yes, of course…now what is it?"

"First of all, it's about our policy- I assume you're familiar with Regulation #12?"

"Yes- 'No sleeping with fellow members without obtaining the leader's permission to do so first.' Why ask me if _I _remember this particular rule? You know full well there's no one here who piques my interest."

"Yes, but this isn't about _you,_ it's about Chisato…"

"What about him?"

"Take a look at this." As she got up from her sitting position on the bed, she turned on the computer near her desk and pulled up a list of surveillance recordings on each of the members, including Chisato and Sora. "Now, watch this. Here's the video from the last five days that Sora's been staying with us." As Vexen watches the screen, he's appalled by what he sees- Chisato raping Sora over and over again, and then he becomes angry at Chisato in a way he never thought before. Truth was, he'd actually bonded with Sora in that time and considered him to be almost a younger brother to him.

"So now you see, Vexen- not only has Chisato broken that rule, he's repeatedly caused Sora pain and misery…we can't have that, therefore I want you to-" As she spoke, a loud explosion rocked the building and caused vexen's eyes to widen in surprise.

"W-what's going on?! Is it an intruder? Lady Xandra!"

"Listen Vexen, go find Sora and hide him…whoever that is, we cannot let them have him just yet! Now go!"

"Yes, my lady!" Vexen said as he ran out of the room and slammed the door behind him as Xandra went over to her closet to pull out a silver and black robe, then strode over to her desk and brought out a bottle of red fluid, drinking it all at once.

"Now then, it's time to put my plan into action…(voice deepens then smoothens out) and make Sora pay for what he did to me."

As Vexen took the stairs, he found Sora's room and saw him clutching his violin rather closely with a look of absolute fear in his eyes. Vexen could only guess that Chisato had done more damage than he realized, and made his way over to Sora only to see him visibly flinch as he grabbed his upper arm and gently lifted him to his feet.

"Come on, Sora- we have to get out of here! The castle's been attacked, and I have to get you to safety."

(With Vincent, Reina, and Nikki- 2:20 a.m.)

As Vincent took out the Heartless, Reina focused on the Nobodies as Nikki sniffed around for any trace of Sora, then lifted his head and let out a loud bark.

"Arf arf ('_I've got his scent! This way!'_)"

As Reina snapped her head up in Nikki's direction, she signaled to Vincent and they followed him up the stairs as he led them to the 4th floor.

(4th Floor, 2:14 a.m.)

As Vexen led Sora into a closed off room, he had him sit on the bed that was in the middle of the room as Sora curled in on himself while holding his instrument close before he closed his eyes and started weeping quietly.

As Vexen stood outside the door, he saw Ming and Naila heading in his direction and pulled them aside to speak with them. "Listen, you two- the intruders are making their way up here and I want you both to stop them at all costs!"

Ming & Naila: "Yes sir!"

The twins saluted Vexen before they made their way down to the 3rd floor to stop Vincent and the others as Zenu had also been heading Vexen's way.

"Zenu!"

"What is it now?"

"Go into this room and guard Sora with your life!"

"Fine, whatever."

As Zenu went into the room, Vexen stood in front of the door ready to deter any of the intruders should they somehow make their way upstairs.

(Vincent, Reina and Nikki, 3rd floor- 2:20 a.m.)

As the three of them made their way up the stairs, they got as far as the 3rd floor when they were stopped by a pair of twin girls who blocked their path.

"Hey Naila, look at that guy: the one in red- he's pretty hot, isn't he? I almost feel sorry about having to kill him, ya know?" said Ming as she materialized 2 gunblades.

"I suppose, but I'm more interested in killing that ugly little girl and her ugly little mutt." Naila said as she materialized a massive halberd and stood at the ready as Reina looked at Vincent with an uncertain look on her face.

"Vincent, why don't you go after Sora? We'll take care if these two!" She nodded at Vincent who ran up the stairs and simply leaped over the girls, between their weapons, and was soon out of sight leaving them to whine at the loss of their prey.

"Oh well, we can still at least take care of these two right Naila?"

"Yeah, sure Ming…let's make it quick though, we have other engagements to see to."

As Reina stared at the two girls, she pulled out her own two swords named 'Heaven' and 'Hell' and watched as Nikki also stood at the ready. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you guys- much." Reina smirked deviously as the fight began.

(with Vincent, 4th floor 2:25 a.m.)

As Vincent raced up the stairs, he saw a guard at the door and that guard happened to be Vexen.

"Well well, I never expected at least _one _of you to make it up here…even so, I cannot let you through this door- I have my orders."

"And I have my priorities- out of the way!"

"I believe I made it stringently clear when I said that you _cannot_ pass through here without getting past me first." Vexen said adamantly as he pulled out his weapon, a shield with what looked like short swords sticking out of it. "And I _will_ execute those orders!"

As Vincent pulls out Cerberus, he merely mutters "Bring it on." Vincent said before the two men clashed in the hall.

(Sora's 'room', 2:27 a.m.)

As Sora layed on the bed crying, Zenu pulled out a blanket from the nearby closet and gently draped it over him as he simply stared at the broken boy before him. The truth was, he knew what Chisato had been doing to him, but he kept quiet for it was his nature as the 'Silent Observer' but knew now that maybe he should have at least said _something_ to the leader.

He then got an idea in his head, and knew that he may very well lose his life over it but he didn't care anymore- it was time to reveal the secret behind Organization Zero to the Keyblade wielder.

"Sora, can you sit up for a moment? I have something to tell you."

As Sora heard Zenu speak to him, he gently sat up and wrapped the blanket around his body, not wanting anyone to see the dark bruises on him left there by Chisato.

"What is it?"

"First of all, I never revealed to you that I myself played the violin when I was still whole…now, I feel broken apart and I want to help you. Will you let me play your instrument, even if only once, for just a little while?"

As Sora stared down at the violin, then back up at Zenu, he simply hands it to him and says "Sure." As Sora relinquishes possession over the violin, he sees Zenu smile a genuine smile instead of a lazy smirk as he starts playing 'I Don't Care' by Apocalyptica and listens as the sad notes fill the room.

(Outside the room, in the hallway)

As Vincent and Vexen traded blows and bullets, Vexen became exhausted as did Vincent.

"You're not bad, (panting) red gunman."

"You're pretty good yourself, (panting) scientist…let's finish this, Sora's waiting for me."

As the two of them prepare for the final blow, they hear the violin's notes carry through the walls as Vexen stands there and smiles at the simplistic beauty of the melody. It was in this moment that Vincent shoots three bullets at Vexen- one in his heart (or where it should be), one in his shoulder and one in his liver and watches as Vexen falls to the ground on his back as blood starts pooling underneath him.

Vincent then walks up to Vexen's collapsed form and merely asks "Why? Why did you not fight back?"

"Because, I wanted to be set free from this cursed fate I was forced to live…Sora told me that he had someone he cared about very deeply, but I never imagined it would be you. Go and rescue him, and do what I…could…not." And with his final breath, Vexen faded back into the darkness once again as his weapon stayed behind. Vincent picked it up and attached it to his back as he opened the door to find Sora sleeping soundly as Zenu finished off his melody and placed the instrument on the bed next to Sora and looked at Vincent.

"….Relax, he's just asleep. If you want him back, you can have him- I dislike fighting unless I have no other choice. You're probably wondering what kind of place this is, aren't you?"

As Vincent stared at him, Sora chose this moment to wake up and saw Vincent standing there.

"Vincent?! Is that really you? I'm not dreaming, am I?!" he sits there as Vincent walks up to him and pulls him into a warm embrace, and just like with Vexen he flinches as Vincent pulls him close.

"No, Sora, you're not…I'm here, I've come to take you home. Why would you help us?" As Vincent felt Sora flinch, he would have to ask him about that later as he locks eyes with the other boy in the room with them.

"First of all, the name's Zenu- and my reasons for helping him are my own. But, the least I figure I could do is to tell you the true purpose behind Organization Zero."

At hearing this, Sora realized he was never really told _why_ he'd been brought here in the first place.

"Well, (clears throat) the real purpose of this Organization is: to revive all the Nobodies that Sora had defeated and use their residual essence to join all the worlds together and establish complete dominion over the new world. However, we needed Sora's Keyblades and their power to make that happen, as well as have his heart _and_ his soul drowning in sadness, misery, and hopelessness…however, Vexen knew this would never work and tried to stop her in his own way but in the end it cost him his life…but, I don't want to be a part of this anymore- I want to leave this place, these 'Shadowed Ruins' and live my own life. Also, there's one last thing you should know, Sora…Arkham, he's just a replica of a long dead warrior…I'm surprised he lasted this long."

"So _that's_ why I didn't see him around."

"Yeah, he died 4 days ago…also, the Xandra you met isn't real either, she's actually-"

But before he could finish his sentence, a beam of light shot through him and caused him to start fading away as an all too familiar voice spoke from behind him.

"That's quite enough out of you, Zenu- I can't have you very well telling them _everything_, now can I?"

"Zenu!" Sora cried out for his friend as he held him against his body as he felt him fading away while he used the last of his strength to make his weapon appear in his hand. It looked like a double-headed spear connected by a chain, and Zenu handed it to Sora as he somehow managed to speak. "Aw man, and here I thought I'd finally get to live a free life of my own…Sora, you became my best friend and I only now realized that I never told you- Marluxia…he's my…lover, and I want you to get him out of here- for _my_ sake, can you do that? Also, find a way…for us t-to be t-t-together again in the next lifetime…"

So with his dying breath, Zenu shed a single tear and soon faded into darkness as Sora held his weapon to him as his gaze caught sight of a name inscribed on the weapon- 'Countenance' and looked at 'Xandra' as 'she' made her way over to them and turned the room into an empty chamber as her form fell away to reveal someone who Sora thought was gone forever.

"X-xemnas?!"

T.B.C.- Wow! Xandra is really Xemnas! What will happen now? Read the next chapter to find out!


	8. Home

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Finally, Ch.8! it's one of the bigger, more important moments in the fic…the rematch between Sora and Xemnas! Vincent will be there to help, but will it be enough this time around, and what will happen to nikki and reina? Read on and find out!

**Ch.8- Home**

As Xemnas stared at them with a smirk on his face, he figured it was time to tell them the truth.

"Yes, I have returned Sora- the woman whom you had met before, 'Xandra', she was my disguise…she never really existed in the first place."

"Well, why did you have me brought here? Did Zenu lie to me?!"

"No, not at all…I _do_ plan to use you to reunite the Worlds as one and become their supreme ruler, and your little boyfriend is going to help me."

(With Reina and Nikki, 3:40 a.m.)

As the fight wore on, Reina had already defeated Naila, thus earning the rage of her sister Ming.

"You'll (panting) pay for what you did to my sister!"

As she ran towards Reina, who was exhausted from fighting for so long, couldn't defend herself and closed her eyes waiting for the finishing blow when she heard a very loud yelp of pain as she saw and felt blood hit her face as Nikki hit the ground with a huge wound in his side. When she saw this, Reina all but lost it as she ran to Nikki's side with tears spilling down her face mixing with the blood on her face, making it look like she was crying blood instead of tears.

"NIKKI! Are you alright?! Nikki, wake up!"

While she saw that he wasn't moving, Ming made her way over to them and held her weapons above Reina's head as she spoke out "It's over, little girl…time to end it."

"(sniffles) You're right, it _is_ time to end it for good." Reina said with no emotion as she plunged her weapon straight into Ming's chest and eviscerated her…leaving the stunned girl to fade away with a shocked look on her face. She turned her attention to Nikki then held him close as she gently kissed him between his eyes and whispered sadly "I love you." After she closed her eyes to mourn the loss of one of her best friends, she heard an exhausted voice beneath her manage out "It's about time you said so, but I can't breathe." At hearing this, her eyes popped open and she stared down into the blue eyes of…

"D-Demyx?!"

"(exhaustedly) Y-yeah, it's me…what took you so long to figure it out?"

"Well, how'd you survive?! Last I'd heard, Sora defeated you and you faded away forever."

"Yeah, about that…" as he tried to sit up, Reina noticed 2 things: one, that he still had his dog ears and tail, and secondly that he was naked! As Reina covered her eyes in embarrassment, she gave him her jacket which he then wrapped around his waist as she screamed "P-put some clothes on!" to which he answered "Ok, ok…geez."

After covering himself up somewhat, he turned to look at her as she asked him "So tell me, how _did_ you manage to come back…and as a dog no less?"

As Demyx scratched between his ears, he figured that he owed her an explanation and took in a deep breath before he began his explanation. "Ok, here's what happened…after Sora defeated me and sent me back into the darkness, I drifted through a void of nothingness for what felt like an eternity but was really only 3 years. When my weapon was recovered, I had found myself pulled back into it and was trapped inside until that woman, Xandra, managed to revive some of us through a restoration method but sadly, my physical body was rendered incomplete and I ended up taking the form of something that I could use to move around freely without suspicion."

"So you took the form of a dog."

"Yes, but I never imagined I'd find someone to open myself up to…but, I still don't have a heart to love you back with- I'm sorry, Reina."

As he looked down ashamedly, his ears flat against his head and tail not moving, Reina simply reached over and pulled Demyx into an embrace and said into his shoulder "It's alright, we'll learn to live around that…for now, I'm just glad that the guy I'd been crushing on ever since I'd met him back in Radiant Garden when I vacationed there is alive and back in my arms again."

As the two of them sat there for 5 tense minutes, Reina then helped Demyx to his feet and let go of his hand as she said to him "Let's go and find you a cloak- we can't have you walking around in nothing but your skin."

The two of them went looking for clothes for Demyx to wear as they thought not only of each other but also of how they were going to help Sora.

(With Xemnas, Sora and Vincent- 3:45 a.m.)

"H-how'd you come back?! When I defeated you, I saw you fade away into nothingness!"

"Yes, it's true that you _did_ defeat me- but I managed to return…you see, some say that people die without having their true hearts' desire fulfilled before their deaths…my true desire _was_ to regain my heart, but that changed when I realized that my original body was unable to be restored fully."

"But, how did you end up a woman?"

"When this place was discovered by a young lady named Talia, she found a way to restore me but I needed a body that you wouldn't recognize- so I forced my way into hers and was reborn, however I still needed my other members back…so I used the same restoration method she'd used on me to revive the others but I gave them new form, purpose and names…except for Marluxia, he stayed the same. I realized that my true purpose now is to make all the worlds whole, and make them all _mine_…but I needed _you_, your _heart_: the only one unable to be corrupted by darkness…" and with lightning quick speed he threw Vincent into the wall on the other side of the room then held Sora up by his throat, his hand tightening its' grip around his windpipe "and now that I _have_ you again, you're not going anywhere." Xemnas smirked before he threw Sora into a dark energy sphere as Vincent managed to get up and shouted out "Sora! Hang on, I'll get you out of there!"

As Vincent moved to rescue him, Xemnas stepped in front of him and forced him back with his energy beam sword when Vincent pulled out his gun Cerberus and pointed it at Xemnas. While they stared each other down, Sora was staring at Vincent with tears in his eyes yelling at him to leave him and get out before it was too late.

(With Reina and Demyx- 4:00 a.m.)

As Reina and Demyx (now fully clothed) made their way upstairs, they saw that there was blood on the ground in front of a door and what sounded like crying on the other side of said door. Demyx could only guess that someone had died as they threw the door open to find Vincent and Xemnas staring each other down waiting for one to make a move.

Demyx then looked over behind Xemnas and saw Sora trapped in an energy field, but just as he was about to make his way over there, Xemnas snapped his fingers and made an army of Dusks appear to hold them off as they jumped fearlessly into the army…taking them out as Vincent and Xemnas finally exchanged blows.

(2 hours later)

While Reina and Demyx were slowly finishing off the enemy army, Vincent was getting exhausted. He hadn't fought this long of a battle in years, and he certainly wasn't as young as he used to be…as he dodged another blow from Xemnas' energy beam, he heard the voice of Chaos whisper in the back of his mind, a voice he hadn't heard in such a long time.

'_Why don't you let _me_ take over? I could easily put this child in his place!'_

'_No, I don't want Sora to know I'm a monster!'_

'_You'll _die _if you don't do something! Just use a bit of my power, I haven't had the chance to run free in a long time…not since Cloud, Aerith, Tifa, and Sephiroth went away, at least…and anyway, you don't really have much of a choice do you? It's either death, me, Gallian, or Gigas…take your pick.'_

As Vincent listened to the resounding voice of Chaos in the back of his thoughts, he realized that he was right- there was really no other way at the moment.

'…_Fine, I guess I have no other options left at this point. But after this battle you go back inside…no arguments, understood?!'_

'…_Fine, but I'm going to enjoy this while I can.'_

With that last sentence from Chaos echoing deep in his mind, Vincent felt himself go through the familiar change that was using Chaos' power as his own, but to Sora it made Vincent look frightening- like Vincent was a great evil beast, he had two black horns with blood covering them sticking out of his head with red and black wings and long pointed ears, his hands growing claws that were sharp enough to leave deep gashes, his metal hand becoming even more deadly than before the transformation as well as a solid black tail and what looked like tears as his eyes turned from red to gold as Vincent charged at Xemnas intent on killing his prey.

While Vincent/Chaos was fighting Xemnas, Demyx called forth his weapon 'Arpeggio' and strummed it causing at least 20 water clones to pop up as he shouted out "Dance water, dance!" and they finished off the last of the dusks as Demyx's weapon fell away along with Reina's twin swords and they turned to watch the rest of the battle with Xemnas and Vincent/Chaos.

As Chaos slashed at Xemnas with his metal clawed hand, the other hand fired countless rounds at him as Xemnas tried to dodge them all but still got hit with a few as he felt blood drip down his arm and fear in his mind. '_This can't be happening, it _shouldn't_ be happening! What _is _he?!' _as Xemnas tried to make sense of this situation, he hesitated for a split second, but a split second was all that Chaos needed to get in close and leave a huge gash across Xemnas' chest. Gashes deep enough to bleed profusely appeared on the Nobody's stomach and chest, leaving him quite vulnerable as Chaos jumped over him and slashed at the energy field containing Sora, gently setting him down on the ground as he made his way back over to Xemnas…who was struggling to get up as Chaos raised his other clawed hand to send him right into the wall with a punch that could be heard by everyone in the room and continued to beat him into submission with his metal fist, leaving bloody claw marks on his face as he pointed the gun between his eyes as he felt the Nobody's life force slowly fading away. He allowed himself to smile a full toothed sadistic grin that showed his fangs as he pulled back on the hammer of the gun, causing an audible click to echo throughout the room, the look on Vincent's/Chaos' face that of a madman about to slaughter an innocent child for no reason other than to kill them very painfully.

Xemnas just gazed up at the monster grinning at him so murderously, fear very evident on his face and in his eyes. Never before had Xemnas been afraid of anything, but if fear truly existed then it would look like this. Sora watched as Vincent/Chaos raised his gun to Xemnas' head, he was truly terrified of the beast about to kill the Nobody but he knew that somewhere deep inside of that beast Vincent was still there, so he pushed his terror aside and ran to stop him.

"(Chaos' voice) It's over, Xemnas- time for you to fade away for good." Before the round could be fired off into Xemnas' brain to end his life forever Chaos felt a small but strong pair of arms wrap around his hips and heard the trembling, crying voice of the one his master had fallen for, and in his mind Chaos heard Vincent's voice echo out the kid's name.

'_Sora.'_

"(Crying) Please, Vincent, come back to me…no more fighting, no more pain, no more killing…just come back to _me_, to _us_. Don't become a monster for _my_ sake, I'm not _worth_ it."

As Sora fell to his knees, he heard Chaos turn around and expected his monstrous voice to assault his ears but instead heard "Sora, you _are _worth it…worth everything to me, don't _ever_ say otherwise. I don't want to hear the one I love call himself worthless, it would break my heart to hear you say that again."

When Sora heard Vincent's deep smooth voice, he looked up into red eyes with his tear-filled blue ones and realized only now that Vincent had told him that he loved him. "Y-you _love_ me? But I thought that you-" before he could finish that sentence, he felt Vincent's soft but dominating lips capture his in a sweet and gentle kiss, and closed his eyes relishing in the softness of Vincent's lips as the need for air finally made itself known to them both as Vincent pulled away and Sora finally noticed that Vincent wasn't wearing the cowl that hid his face…which in Sora's opinion was extremely handsome as he sat there taking in all the emotions on Vincent's face in that moment: relief, sadness, fear, shame, and most importantly love, and could see it in his eyes too.

"Sora, are you ready to go home?"

Upon asking, Sora stood up and threw himself into Vincent's arms and wrapped them around his middle as he said into his shirt "Yes, I want to go home…but first, we have to get Marluxia out of here…he's my friend, and I made a promise to Zenu that I would."

While Vincent sat there amazed at Sora's overwhelming kindness towards his enemies, he held him close and said "Alright then, we'll get him out of here…and I'll tell you more about Chaos and the other monsters in me when we're all back home…I promise."

As the two of them stayed in that embrace for several seconds, Xemnas stood up and made an energy sword appear in his hands as he stumbled towards the two of them but felt the sharp end of Demyx's sitar rammed through his middle as the blonde stood there with a sadistic smile on his face while Xemnas felt blood run down his lips to join what had already been shed from his face.

"W-why?! I thought-"

"That I was going to let you do any more harm to my friends? Ha, you must've mistaken for one of those 'dumb blondes' like Larxene, however I'm anything _but_ dumb…Goodbye, Xemnas."

Xemnas then faded away for the very last time and could nevermore return to the living world as Demyx saw his friends Reina, Vincent and Sora walk up to him.

"Now then, what say we find Marly and get the hell out of here?"

The room fell quiet as the 4 of them walked out, leaving behind the bad memories and heartaches that came with them as they felt the tremors of an earthquake and ran out just as the room collapsed, they didn't have much time to locate Marluxia and Riku before the whole castle went under so they kept running hoping to find them.

(With Riku and Marluxia, 4:30 a.m.)

As Riku made his way through the first floor (you thought I'd forgotten about him didn't u?), he soon found the garden which, despite all the darkness in the rest of the ruins outside, was actually well-lit with bright sunlight. As he took all this in with awe, he heard a voice behind him say "the light in this room is created through an artificial sunlight generator that Vexen built…some of the plants here can't survive without direct sunlight, except for this little one." As Riku turned around, he saw Marluxia standing there with what looked like a domed jar with a light-blue flower inside of it.

"This little one is called a 'Moon Heart Lilly', and it needs moonlight to survive…anyway, why are you here Riku?"

"I came to get Sora out of here."

"Well, this place is falling apart…I only came to get this little one, and then leave."

As they stood there, Sora and the others soon found them. "Marluxia, Zenu asked me to come find you and get you out of here…let's go!"

"Where is Zenu, and why isn't he with you guys?!"

"Because…Zenu's dead, Xemnas killed him. I'll explain later, let's get out of here!"

As Marluxia took in the fact that his beloved Zenu was dead, Riku opened a portal and shouted to them "Let's go! I can't hold this open forever!"

And with that, Sora pulled on Marluxia's wrist as he said goodbye to his garden and the Shadowed Ruins as they all made their way home from the collapsing ruins of Organization Zero.

T.B.C.- Finally, Sora's going home and knows how Vincent feels about him! What will happen next? Read to find out!


	9. Aftermath

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Alright, it's Ch.9! Whoo, I feel so accomplished! Anyway, how will Marluxia deal with Zenu's death? And what will happen with Sora and Vincent now…also, what will happen with Riku? Read on and find out, so here we go!

**Ch.9- Aftermath**

An hour later, Sora and the others stepped out of the portal and into the very same park where he'd been abducted only days before. Marluxia stood there stock still as he let the news of his beloved's death sink in…he just couldn't believe that his Zenu had been killed, and all for Xemnas' insane scheme for revenge against Sora!

'_Why? Why did he have to die?! Why, why, why Zenu? Why my lover?!'_ As his mind kept asking why, Marluxia fell to his knees and sobbed pitifully to the night sky. As the others turned to the sight behind them, Sora walked up to Marluxia and pulled him into an embrace that was really what he needed at the moment.

"Marluxia, listen…Zenu gave me his weapon…maybe we can use it to help bring him back, but we need to find Rufus first, only he'll know for sure."

As Marluxia faintly listened to Sora speaking to him, a faint glimmer of hope appeared in his heart at the very _chance_ of Zenu coming back to him. "Do you…really think he can revive him?"

"I don't know, but I think it's worth a shot. So, let's go back to 7th Heaven for now and discuss what to do next. Vincent, will you lead the way?"

"Of course, everyone follow me."

Vincent, Sora, Marluxia, Reina, Demyx, and Riku all headed back together with Sora keeping distance from anyone who wanted to hold him, what happened between him and Vincent was an automatic reaction on Sora's part…his body was on autopilot at that moment but after the moment had passed he once more closed himself off from everyone, he still had the fear and bruises from Chisato's rough treatment at his hands. This had made him skittish and frightened of even the simplest touches, but he hoped that with time he could finally heal.

(With Chisato, 6:15 a.m.)

As Chisato stepped out of the portal he'd managed to conjure, he looked around and realized that he wasn't anywhere near Sora, and that pissed him off…Sora _belonged_ to_ him_, and he wanted to reclaim his property. However, a projectile flew at him: it looked like a sword attached to a chain, with a name inscribed on it that read '_Lunatic_' and had a crescent moon on the blade as well. It was also then that the wielder's voice spilled out of the dark shadows of the canyon where he'd ended up.

"Well well, not many who can dodge my Lunatic- you must have _some _skill."

"Who the hell is that? Show yourself!" as Chisato shouted, he materialized his own weapon: a massive hammer named '_Destroyer_' and held it at the ready as the owner of the voice stepped out of the shadows to reveal…

"Who are you?"

"Who I am doesn't matter…all that matters is" as he said this with his eyes trained upon his prey, he moved in front of Chisato with a speed that only the moon could see and was right in front of Chisato's face faster than he could blink "that I'm here to cut you down, _boy_." As the assailant raised his weapon, all that Chisato saw before his life ended and he faded away for good was steel-gold eyes, blue hair and an x-shaped scar upon his executioner's face as the canyon soon lit up with moonlight, illuminating Cosmo Canyon in a silver glow.

As he put away his sword, he heard a voice behind him say "You know, Saix, you didn't have to put fear into him before you killed him."

"Spare me the lecture, Nanaki…you know full well that that's the only way to ensure their total destruction. In any case, why are you here?"

"I've come to tell you that Sora and his friends took down Organization Zero before they escaped. Are you going to go back to Radiant Garden?"

"I believe so, it's time to show Sora that you can never really destroy the moon's shadow. Thank you for allowing me to stay among your people for so long, but you're right- it's time I left." As Saix turned and walked off, he thought of what he would do once he reached Radiant Garden.

(With Sora and the others, 7th Heaven, 6:45 a.m.)

While Sora and his friends made their way back to the bar/hotel, Vincent couldn't help but notice that Sora seemed…fearful around him and his friends, and decided that when he got Sora alone he'd ask him what exactly happened in all the time he'd been forced to stay there against his will. As soon as Vincent opened the door, Cloud looked at him with a tired look on his face…he knew that his friend probably hadn't slept in days, constantly scouring the city trying to find his son and saw that everyone was there including Reno and Rufus, they were all in deep slumber and never heard Vincent come inside with Riku and the others.

"Hey Vincent, any luck?"

"…Yes, actually." As he moved aside, Sora walked in with his violin and Cloud nearly collapsed with relief at seeing his son alive and safe, and as he moved to hug him Sora backed up a little, which had Cloud puzzled. Sora was visibly shaking and hid behind Vincent so he almost couldn't see him, but he still poked his head around to watch his father very carefully like a frightened animal about to be slaughtered, Cloud chose to stay still so he wouldn't frighten him.

"Sora, what's wrong? It's your father…why do you back away from me?" Cloud asked concernedly, why was he acting like this around him?

"I'm sorry dad, it's just…I need some time to think, excuse me." Sora then turned on his heels, ran up the stairs to his room and closed the door quickly behind him. As Riku and the others watched the scene play out, Cloud couldn't help but think that something terrible had befallen his son. While he stood there troubled and very curious as to what could have possibly happened to Sora in the last 10 days, Vincent placed a reassuring hand upon his shoulder.

"I'll go talk to him, see what happened and then I'll tell you ok?"

"Alright, Vincent…I trust you not to hurt my son."

Vincent went up the steps to Sora's room and knocked on the door, then he waited until he heard a muffled 'Come in' and opened the door to find Sora curled up on his bed facing the wall.

"Sora, tell me what happened to make you so fearful of us."

"….."

"You know I'll find out eventually, so you may as well come clean and tell me…if not for yourself then for your friends, for your father and family, for me. Please, tell me what happened."

As Sora felt the bed dip he knew that Vincent had sat next to him but wasn't making a move towards him, he then felt Vincent's gloved hand on his ribcage and his eyes boring into his side, and knew that Vincent was right…he would find out soon enough, so he may as well tell him now. Sora turned to look at Vincent with regret and absolute fear in his eyes, tears gathering to fall from them as he sat up and caught the dark haired man's concerned gaze with his own shame filled orbs.

"…..It was Chisato, he…he…"

"He did what?"

"He…he raped me! (starts to cry) over and over again, he took the one thing I wanted to give you besides my heart- my body…he kept at it the whole time I was there and I just gave in believing I'd never see you again, I let him have his way with me…and now you won't want me anymore because I've been defiled by him!" It was at this point that Sora was full on sobbing and rocking as Vincent got an angry look in his eyes until they started glowing gold as a guttural growl escaped his throat.

'_HOW DARE THAT BASTARD TOUCH _MY_ SORA! I'LL MAKE HIM PAY FOR WHAT HE'S DONE!'_

"Vincent, you're scaring me! Stop, please stop…"

As Sora threw his arms around his midsection, Vincent started calming down and pulled Sora into his lap, reaching down to pull up his chin and make him look into Vincent's now again red orbs that showed acceptance, understanding, and love as he reached down while undoing his cowl (somehow he put it back on again, lol) then captured Sora's lips in a soft and accepting kiss. After they broke apart, Vincent laid Sora back down onto the bed, pulled his blanket over him and placed a small kiss on his forehead then told him "Goodnight, Sora. I love you." And left as Sora fell into what both of them hoped would be a peaceful sleep.

(Back downstairs)

As Vincent walked down the steps, he saw Cloud standing there with an expectant look on his face. The others had all gone home hours ago, leaving just the two of them alone in the building. Cloud would tell them all later, for now he wanted to know what happened to make his son become so frightened of any movement towards him.

"Well, what is it? What's wrong with Sora?!"

"Hrmm…..you're not going to like this, Cloud…you may want to sit down."

As he led Cloud to the couch, he sat him down and got eye-level with him as he prepared to break the bad news to his friend.

"Sora told me…that he'd been raped, countless times by a man named Chisato- harshly, brutally raped over and over again. I'm so very sorry Cloud; I only wish I knew sooner, I might have been able to prevent that from happening."

As Cloud sat there with a shocked look on his face, he just couldn't believe it- of all the worst things that could've happened to Sora, he'd been raped…several times…and Cloud then did something he hadn't done since the day he'd almost lost Aerith- he broke down and cried.

When he finished wiping away the last of his tears, they both looked up and saw Sora standing there with a blanket wrapped around him as he walked over and sat next to his weeping father, deciding to tell them all that had happened in the time he was away, Cloud had sent the others a text saying that his son was home safe and ready to tell them what had happened…not even half an hour later the building was full again as Sora told them everything.

(1 hour later, 7:45 a.m.)

As Sora finished recalling the events that had transpired, to say that everyone was shocked would've been a terrible understatement…some fainted, while Reina and Demyx had snuck away afterwards to find him some clothes, and Riku was crying into Marluxia's arms as he finished recounting to the best of his abilities the events he was a part of.

By this time, everyone was tired and had gone home again as Vincent carried a now sleeping Sora up to his room, then laid him down in bed as he went to leave the room only to be stopped by Sora grabbing his arm.

"Wait! Please, Vincent- don't leave me here all by myself…won't you stay with me?"

As Vincent looked down at Sora, he looked so small and fragile in his arms, like a frightened kitten that was expecting a beating for doing something wrong.

"Alright, I'll stay- but don't expect too much from me…I don't necessarily make for good company."

As Sora stared at the one his heart truly longed for, his gaze made its' way down to Vincent's metal-clawed arm as he grabbed it in his own hands and gently moved his fingers across the smooth metal.

"Sora, not many people are willing to _touch that_ part of me…so why are you-"

"Because, maybe I can restore it- make it whole again, for you…my dark angel."

As Vincent's eyes widened, he had never even considered that someone _could_ heal his arm…and that for Sora, he'd be willing to let him try.

"Do you really think you can?"

"I have to check the extent of the damage first, so you'll have to remove the gauntlet for me to see just what I need to heal."

"I haven't removed this gauntlet in over 40 years, I only hope you're not disgusted or frightened by what you see underneath it."

As Vincent carefully removed the gauntlet from his hand, Sora could see _decades'_ worth of damage- it was mangled beyond recognition…a decayed, clawed mess where most of the skin was missing or rotted away showing pale white bone, and dried blood that was crusted on from failed attempts at healing injuries…in Sora's eyes, it made him want to hold Vincent close and tell him that he was beautiful to him, even with that ruined part of himself.

"You're not afraid of it?"

"No, now I know what I have to do…it's going to take a huge amount of healing magic and energy, but I'll do my best to fix it for you, so that you never have to hide it again. Now, lay it down and hold still…this may hurt a little."

As Sora called forth his keyblades, Vincent laid his arm and hand out then held still as Sora's weapons and hands began to glow white.

(4 hours later, 11:45 a.m.)

As the last of the healing magic faded, Sora suddenly felt like he was 20 years older as the white glow faded and Vincent stared down at his now fully formed hand…although it still had the claws of Chaos, but in his opinion that didn't matter as he took in the fact that his hand was fully healed and once again whole.

'_I can't believe it…my hand is whole again, and it's been so long since I've been able to take this gauntlet off- I really can't believe this is happening…although Sora must be exhausted…'_

As Sora felt the healing energy fade away, he all but collapsed into Vincent's lap but instead fell against his chest as he felt those strong yet gentle hands catch him and hold him up in a loving manner as Sora looked up at Vincent and knew he just couldn't believe that his hand had been restored to the condition it was in.

"(panting) Well, I've restored your hand and arm to some part of what it used to be…sadly, I couldn't make it like your other hand- I hope it's enough, but this is-"

"It's alright…I'll be forever grateful to you for doing this for me, Sora…Sora?" When Vincent looked down, he found Sora sleeping against his chest and laid him down on the bed, pulling a blanket over him to let him sleep for the rest of the day as he placed a kiss on his cheek and left him there as he quietly closed the door behind him, grabbing the gauntlet as he walked out.

As Vincent walked down the stairs, he saw that Cloud was asleep…he must've been the most restless of all of them with wondering, _hoping_ that Sora would come back safely and just decided to let him sleep as he walked out the door and went to wander the town for a little while, deciding to go to the flower shop and send a bouquet of flowers to Aerith, letting her know that Sora was safe and sound again.

(8 hours later, 7:45 p.m.)

After Vincent paid his dinner tab, he decided to go to the graveyard and visit Lucrecia so he could tell her what had transpired until he sensed a strange presence and reflexively moved his hand to Cerberus' handle.

"Why don't we go talk in the park, where the two of us are less likely to attract undue attention?"

Vincent and the stranger went to the specified location to discuss what the other wanted to talk about.

(The park, 8:00 p.m.)

As Vincent stood in the empty park, the other one who'd followed him stepped out from between the trees and revealed himself to Vincent.

"I am Saix, formerly known as Number 7 in Organization XIII- I'd heard that Sora took down the so-called new Organization Zero along with help from his friends…is that true?"

As Vincent eyed Saix carefully, his hand kept its' place near his weapon and decided to very carefully answer his question as well as to analyze his fighting style should it escalate to that level.

"Yes, he did…Xemnas had been revived, and tried to include Sora in a plot of his to control all worlds, but it was stopped when he was defeated- and Sora was returned safely home with his friends, but I don't understand what this has to do with _you_…like you said, you're a _former_ member of a fallen Organization."

"It's true I'm a _former_ member…Sora showed me what it means to possess a heart, as well as to act upon its' desires. I just came to express my thanks to him but it appears that he's not available at the moment. Please, give him my regards (reaches into pocket and pulls out a data disc) as well as this, it details the method of resurrection of former members through utilizing the residual essence of their weapons…I'm sure he's got a few friends in the Organization he wants back among the living." Saix gave Vincent the disc then walked off, leaving him standing there with so many questions that had no immediate answers.

(With Marluxia, 7th Heaven hotel room, 8:20 p.m.)

As Marluxia sat in his room, he thought of the events that had happened over the last 6 days…and had cried so many times over the loss of his beloved Zenu, the flower that he'd gotten from him seemed so small and far away that he couldn't help but think back to when he'd been brought back to life and caught eyes with the most beautiful individual he'd ever seen in his life.

(Flashback, 6 months ago- Marluxia's revival in Organization Zero's basement laboratory, 3:55 a.m.)

_As Vexen stood near the console, Zenu placed Marluxia's scythe on the table nearby and hooked it up to the console while Vexen pulled levers, threw switches and pushed buttons in quick succession while Xandra stood there watching this all take place._

"_Are you sure this will work, Vexen?"_

"_Honestly, I have my doubts as to whether or not his memories will be intact- but we'll never know until we try…let's hope he'll still be able to wield Graceful Dahlia as effectively as when he was alive the _first _time. Zenu, is the weapon ready for utilization?"_

"_All set, Professor…ready when you are."_

"_Very well then, let's begin."_

_As the weapon started to levitate, a figure began materializing onto the table until a familiar hand fell upon the handle of the scythe, long pink hair gently falling onto the table as the process finished and Marluxia, also called Number 11, lay there…with eyes closed and not moving._

"_What's wrong?! Why isn't he moving, or breathing?!" demanded Xandra as she glared at Vexen angrily._

_As Vexen checked the screen, he saw that his vitals weren't working. "I was afraid of this, his memories and body are intact- however his vitals aren't completely working right, his lungs and heart are dead…Zenu, prep the defibrillator immediately! Set it to 150!"_

"_Yes sir, charging….charge complete, ready for use."_

"_Good, clear!"_

_As they pressed down upon Marluxia's chest to kickstart his heart, nothing happened._

"_Dammit, set it to 200!"_

"_Charging…ready."_

"_Clear!"_

_Again, nothing. _

"_Set it to 300!"_

"_Charging….Ready!"_

"_Clear!"_

_As they tried in vain to get him to awaken, Vexen had to accept that Marluxia just wasn't coming back to life._

"_Well, there's nothing else we can do…Zenu, shut down the console and then take the body to the furnace- no sense keeping the body around but hang onto the weapon."_

_As Zenu moved to shut down the machine, the hand that had been touching the weapon only moments before flew out and grabbed his wrist tightly, which made Zenu look down into fully opened blue-violet eyes as Marluxia gasped out a sentence while relearning to breathe at the same time._

"_Don't (gasp) do that (gasp), I'm still alive."_

_As Vexen looked down at Marluxia, he then turned to the console and saw that his vitals were, indeed, fully functioning and working like they should be._

"_Well, good work Vexen…I expect data on how he functions again now that he's been revived. Until then, he'll stay with Zenu- that's not a problem for you, is it? You always complain that your room's too big for just you by yourself, so it looks like you have a partner."_

"_I'm fine with it, but can we get him a cloak please? He's naked."_

_From that moment, the two of them spent many days together until Zenu realized that he was in love with the Graceful Assassin and meant to tell him in the garden through a simple gesture that he was sure would impress him._

_(The garden, 4 months after Marluxia's revival- 3:15 p.m.)_

_As Marluxia bent over the flowers that he'd taken such great care of, he heard the doors open behind him and knew that Zenu was standing there._

"_Hey Zenu, what brings you here? Besides the flowers, of course?"_

"_Actually, that's probably why _you're _here…Anyway, I have a gift for you."_

_As Marluxia stood up then turned around, a jar was put in front of him and it had a rather unusual looking flower inside. "Wow, this is a beautiful flower Zenu!"_

"_I'm glad you like it, it's called the 'Moon Heart Lilly' and I grew it myself from a seed I managed to obtain…this flower cannot be in direct sunlight outside that container, but it can still receive water via the hole in the back."_

"_Wow, I love it Zenu! Thank you so much, I'll take extra special care of it knowing you gave it to me." Marluxia then smiled a genuine, soft smile that had Zenu smiling himself…and decided it was now or never._

"_Listen, Marluxia- I have something to tell you and it cannot wait any longer. Ever since you became my partner, I've done everything I could to make you happy but now I want to make you truly happy…Marluxia, I love you with everything that I am and all that I will ever be."_

_And to prove his feelings true, he leaned up and captured his lips in a gentle but pleading kiss. As Marluxia let Zenu kiss him, he couldn't help but melt into the kiss as he wrapped his arms around the slightly smaller back of the other beneath him and tilted Zenu's head back in an effort to deepen the kiss. As they made out for several seconds, the need for air soon made itself known and they broke apart, both panting rather heavily as they stared into each other's eyes._

"_Zenu…how long have you had these feelings for me?"_

"_I suppose…a few weeks after you were brought back to life, I want to be by your side until the end of our days…will you remain with me as well?"_

"_Oh Zenu… yes, I want to stay with you, but what will Xandra say about this? What if she-"_

_As Marluxia went to protest, Zenu silenced him with a finger to his lips then took his hand in his other one and squeezed it gently. "Just let me talk to her, ok? I promise I'll straighten things out."_

"_(sighs) Ok, I trust you to accomplish that."_

_As the two of them left the garden, Marluxia went to his room and clutched the flower lovingly to his chest as Zenu went to have a chat with Xandra._

_(Xandra's Room, 3:25 p.m.)_

_As Zenu stood outside the leader's room, he raised his hand and knocked on the door and stood silent until he heard 'Come in' then opened the door to step inside and have a word about him and Marluxia with Xandra._

"_Hello, Zenu…is there something you wish to discuss with me?"_

_As Zenu stood there eyeing the leader, he knew that he had to do this…for him and Marluxia._

"_Yes, there is something I'd like to talk about with you…Xandra, I have fallen in love with Marluxia, and today he returned my feelings by saying that he wishes to be with me just as I wish to be with him…we'd like your permission to have a serious relationship within the Organization's walls."_

_As Xandra stared at him, she saw that his eyes and words were quite serious, but then again she knew how much they loved each other…she'd seen the signs long before either of them had, so she decided to answer his question._

"_Well, I'm surprised you actually came here to discuss such a thing with me…nevertheless, I hereby grant you my permission and my blessing to have, as you so eloquently put it, 'a serious relationship within the Organization's walls'…just bear in mind that you cannot sleep together without any further permission from me."_

"_I understand, and thank you ever so much, my lady."_

_As she watched him depart, she couldn't help but smile at him as he closed the doors behind him then went back to what she'd been doing before he had come to see her._

_As Zenu made his way to their shared room, he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face in that moment as he knocked on the door and at first heard nothing, but after waiting 5 minutes and knocking again he heard 'Just a minute, I'm busy…(unlocks door) Ok, you can come in now.' As Zenu opened the door, he saw a sight that was almost too much for him: Marluxia standing there in a pair of dark blue straight jeans, shirtless and towel drying his hair while drops of water were rolling down his lithe, tall frame._

"_Uh, Zenu…isn't there something you came to tell me?"_

_At hearing Marluxia's voice, he snapped out of his lust-induced haze and walked over to his bed then gestured for him to sit next to him as Marluxia grabbed a clean cloak and put it on as he sat next to his boyfriend._

"_Marluxia, today I have been made twice as happy…not only have you agreed to be with me for all time, but Xandra said that we can have a serious relationship within the Organization's walls without having to hide or having fear of being persecuted for what we have."_

_At hearing the news, Marluxia laid his Zenu down and captured his lips in a searing kiss that had both of them reeling from the intense pleasure of it…as Marluxia licked Zenu's lips, his tongue caressed his lover's bottom lip, begging for entry into his mouth and Zenu could only oblige as he shyly opened his mouth to allow his lover access and relished in the feeling of Marluxia's tongue across his own, allowing a moan to escape his mouth when he opened up to breathe._

_As Marluxia let up for a moment to allow both of them to breathe, he stared at Zenu with a gentle and loving smile on his face as he laid next to him then pulled him close to his body and whispered into his ear "Let's stay like this for the rest of our time together, and know that I will never let anything happen to you."_

"_Alright, I promise to always stay with you and never choose another for the rest of our days."_

_As they shared their vows and promises, they simply laid there contently within each other's presence._

(Flashback ends, 9:00 p.m.)

As Marluxia merely stared out the window, he wondered where it could have possibly gone wrong…how he could try and move on, even though his heart (which had been restored by way of his revival) was begging him not to forget their love.

While he was lost in his memories, he almost missed it when he heard a knock at his door and got up to answer only to be surprised to see Sora standing there with a somewhat sad look on his face. "Sora, come in. What brings you to _my_ room at this hour of the night?"

"Oh, I just wanted to see if you're doing alright…I'm truly sorry about what happened to Zenu, I really am."

"It's ok, I mean it's not like _you _killed him…I heard he'd died trying to help you, so he wasn't at least killed in vain…I just wish I could be with him again."

"Well-"

As Sora was trying to tell Marluxia something, there was another knock at the door and Marluxia said "It's open" and in walked Vincent carrying something in his hand.

"Hey, Vincent…did you go somewhere while I was sleeping?"

"Yes, I was being followed and then I ended up having a conversation with a man named Saix."

"Wait- Saix is alive!? I thought I'd killed him 3 years ago, how is he still alive?!"

"Well, I myself wonder that seeing as how he said he was a former member of Organization XIII, but then he said that you had taught him what it means to have a heart and how to act upon its' desires…anyway, he gave me this data disc…he said it has some very vital information for you." Vincent then handed the disc to Sora who took it and stared at it.

"Well, I'll need a computer to view this…maybe Rufus can help us."

At hearing his name, Vincent scowled and looked away angrily…he _still_ hadn't forgiven Rufus for what he'd done to innocent people in his quest to create 'The Ultimate Weapon', but he supposed he could put his anger at the man aside for Sora's sake.

"Alright, we'll go pay him a visit and ask if we can borrow his facilities. Are you coming…?"

"Marluxia, and yeah- this should be interesting."

As the 3 of them walked outside, Marluxia opened a portal, then they all walked inside and let Vincent guide them through to where Rufus' company was located.

(Shinra Electric Power Corporation, 9:15 p.m.)

While Rufus sat at his desk, bandages over his left eye, he watched Reno move around his office organizing documents and files as he looked to the camera that was outside the entrance to the building and saw Vincent standing there with Sora as well as someone he didn't recognize and sent Tseng out to investigate.

(outside Shinra)

As Vincent stood there waiting, he saw that Tseng had stepped out to greet them.

"Hello, Vincent. What brings you by today?"

"We came to speak to Rufus…is he available?"

"Yes, but you'll only have about 20 minutes of his time…he's very busy, as you can very well imagine."

"We won't be long, now please take us to him."

"Certainly, follow me."

Tseng then took them to an elevator which took them to the 15th floor, where Rufus was waiting.

(Rufus' Office, 9:20 p.m.)

When the elevator doors opened, Rufus watched as they were brought in by Tseng, who bid them farewell then closed the doors behind him and left them alone to talk.

"Welcome, Vincent…I trust you've been well?"

"Skip the friendly banter…we're here because Sora needs a favor of you, otherwise I wouldn't have stepped foot anywhere near this place."

"Right…well then Sora, what brings _you_ by today? I'm personally glad to see you safe and sound. So, how can I help you?"

"I need to borrow a computer to view the contents of this data disc."

As he fished the disc out of his pocket, Rufus eyed it carefully- it had the number 13 on the front and he had to admit to himself that he too was curious as to what was stored on it.

"Alright then, follow me and I'll allow you to use my equipment on the condition that I also get to view the data."

"Well, that makes sense seeing as how you're lending us your equipment."

"Well now, you're rather intelligent- just like your father…I knew your dad when he was training to be a part of our 'SOLDIER' program along with Sephiroth."

"Wow, dad never told me that."

"Well, I'm sure he had his reasons for not telling you…Ah, here we are."

As Rufus stopped in front of a gray door, he pulled out a card key and swiped it until an audible 'beep' was heard then he opened the door to allow them inside…in the room was everything Sora needed: a massive computer set into a back wall, what looked like a pod of some sort and a table with surgical tools- all sterilized and ready for usage.

"Well now Sora, why don't we get started by you inserting the disc into the computer?"

"Ok, here goes everything." As Sora turned on the computer and inserted the disc, it immediately loaded up the data files but there was one in particular that was on a locked folder, and he didn't know the password.

"Hey Sora, let me try. I might be able to open it." Said Marluxia as he appeared next to Sora at the keyboard.

"Sure, but do you know the password?"

"As a matter of fact, I do…Xandra felt I was the only one she could trust with it so she told me…here, let me show you." As Marluxia's fingers flew over the keys, Sora saw that the password was 'ZERO' and just like that, the folder opened as everyone gathered around the computer screen to look at all the data.

From what they saw, it was all data on the restoration and revival of the deceased former members of Organization XIII…but, some of the members had their names crossed off the list.

"You're wondering about the ones whose names are taken off the list right? Well, it turns out the ones you'd met in Zero were already brought back, but their entire structure had to be rewritten because they couldn't be restored properly…anyway, it seems that Saix is already back to his true self, as is Axel, but it looks like we _can_ revive Zenu after all…we just need something with his residual essence and memories."

As Sora stood there in thought for a brief moment, he thought of Zenu's weapon and materialized it into his hand, shocking all who were in the room with him- especially Marluxia.

"Y-you have his weapon?! How did you get it?"

"He gave it to me, before Xemnas killed him…I had to watch him die, and felt that there was nothing I could do at the time (starts weeping), I'm so sorry I couldn't save him…I'm sorry."

As Sora began crying even harder, his body shaking with unkept sobs and tears Marluxia pulled him into a hug and stroked his hair gently, in an effort to reassure him that it _wasn't _his fault.

"It's alright Sora, you're not to blame for his death…the fact that you cried for him just now proves that he was a very special friend to you. So, how's about we get to trying to revive him, heart and all?"

"(sniffles and wipes away tears) Ok, let's get started!"

As they hooked '_Countenance'_ up to the console, Sora, Vincent, and Marluxia stood on opposite sides of the table directly across from each other and began channeling not only their own energy, but their memories of Zenu as the weapon began levitating and glowing, then Zenu began appearing on the table in his black cloak until all of him was materialized and his hand on his weapon as his eyes opened.

"Revival process complete…you did it Sora!" said Vincent as he stood next to Sora and put his hand on his shoulder, smiling down at him.

"No, _we _did it Vincent…all of us, together."

As they stared down at Zenu, the color in his eyes slowly came back as Marluxia took his hand as he hoped to whatever deity existed that Zenu would truly be alive and by his side again.

"Zenu, can you hear me? It's Marluxia, are you alright?"

"M-marluxia? (Groans as he sits up) I thought I had died, but here I'm looking into your beautiful eyes again."

"Well it looks like you're doing much better, and you have someone very special to thank for that."

"You're right…Sora, thank you- for bringing me back."

"No, I brought you home."

Zenu then turned and embraced Marluxia in a hug that, in his opinion, was long overdue while Sora pulled Rufus aside to speak with him as Vincent kept a watchful eye over him.

"Rufus, you said you knew my dad…what's the SOLDIER program, and how does it relate to him?"

"I knew you'd ask if I mentioned it…well, I'll try to explain it so follow along if you can. Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Ok, then I'll begin- the story of how SOLDIER was formed."

T.B.C.- Wow, longest chapter yet! Anyway, read and review plz!


	10. SOLDIER

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Woah, it's finally Ch.10! Wow, I'm so pleased with how well it's come…anyway, Sora's gonna find out about his dad's connection to the disbanded SOLDIER group that Cloud was once a part of. So, no more waiting- here's the chappie!

**Ch.10- SOLDIER**

As Rufus stood in front of Sora, he was prepared to tell him everything about SOLDIER and Cloud's involvement with that permanently disbanded brigade.

"Well, first you need to know that your dad Cloud was recruited by an eco-terrorist organization called AVALANCHE, but he was a mercenary at the time. He told them he was an ex-SOLDIER, First Class rank…SOLDIER was created by my father, the former president of Shinra, and Cloud was experimented upon for several years in a twisted bid to create an ultimate weapon, as was Sephiroth- your friend Riku's father, but when your mother Aerith asked Cloud and his friends to help her save the planet, Sephiroth went missing at the time. Eventually, Cloud convinced him to help them stop Meteor from destroying all life on the planet, and afterwards everyone went their separate ways…your parents settling down and Sephiroth and Tifa getting married…I was at both weddings, but I'm afraid that's all I know about SOLDIER and the Mako Experiments."

"Mako Experiments?"

"Hojo was the one in charge of those experiments…he's also the one who made Vincent into what he is- a vessel containing the genes of 3 different demons, I'm sure you've already met at least one of them."

"Yeah, I have…he called himself Chaos."

"Ah, I see…the others are called Death Gigas and the Gallian Beast."

"I can't believe it…there's so much about him that I don't know, but still I-"

"You love him, don't you Sora? It's all over your face, so there's no use hiding it from me."

"…Anyway, I'm not sure if I should tell him yet."

"Well, I'm sure that when you're ready it'll just come out naturally…that being said, I promise I'll keep this a secret- all I ask is that you leave me a copy of that data on resurrection, alright?"

"….I guess, but I'll keep the original data because it could be used in the future to bring back members of Organization XIII."

"Alright, well if you want to know more about AVALANCHE and SOLDIER just ask your father…as I told you earlier he was a part of both of those factions."

As Sora walked back over to Vincent and the others, he saw that Zenu was already up and walking around with help from Marluxia in order to keep steady on his feet. He couldn't help but smile at their efforts as Vincent came over and stood next to him, feeling a strong but gentle hand on his shoulder.

"You've really made Marluxia happy by doing this."

"Yeah well, I made them both a promise and I swore to myself that I'd keep it no matter what."

"Well, you seem to be good at that sort of thing…I have something I want you to promise me, Sora."

"Really? What is it, Vincent?"

"I want you to promise you won't ever leave me, that you won't let me spend the rest of my life alone in this world without you Sora- I would die if you broke that promise."

As Sora stared into Vincent's eyes, he saw that his words were true as Vincent laid his forehead on Sora's shoulder as he wrapped his arms around Vincent's hunched over slightly taller frame. In all that time he'd hit a growth spurt and he rounded out around 5'7" which was about Riku's height.

"I…I promise, I won't _ever_ leave you Vincent…there's something I have to tell you, something I've been trying my hardest to say but it's just really hard for me to say it aloud…I haven't said this since I told Riku these same exact words 3 years ago…"

As Vincent stood up, he felt dread knot up in his stomach…was Sora going to reject him? He braced himself for the worst, which made it look like he was tensing up for a fight.

"Vincent Valentine, I love you- with all my heart, my soul, and all of my being…I want to stay by your side forever, and I never want to leave you alone."

As Vincent heard those three words he'd been dying to hear since who knows how long, he could only stand there shocked…and then pulled him into an embrace as he removed his cowl to allow Sora to see his truest smile.

"Sora, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to hear you say that to me…because, I also love you with all that I am, and I will never hurt you or let you go- that I swear."

As they stared into each other's eyes, Sora felt himself get really weak and then passed out in Vincent's arms.

"Sora! Are you okay!? Wake up! Rufus!"

As soon as he'd heard Vincent yell his name, he took Sora and laid him down on the nearest table then hooked him up to the monitor, which registered his vitals and pulse.

"Well physically, he's just fine…he just fainted from very little sleep and exhaustion from battling so much…also, there's something I need to tell you."

As he prepared to tell Vincent what was so important, Marluxia and Zenu joined him at the table.

"What's wrong with Sora?"

"Will he be alright?"

"Well, he's alright physically…but, remember when I said that Cloud was experimented on with Mako Cells?"

"Yes?"

"Well, so was Sephiroth…which means that since Sora and Riku are their children, they may have inherited those same cells into their bloodstream and genes. Anyway, I'll keep Sora here overnight to keep an eye on him as well as take a blood sample to see if he did indeed inherit those cells from Cloud. But one of you will have to tell Cloud of this situation."

As the three of them looked to each other, Marluxia was the first to speak up.

"I'll go, Vincent should stay here and besides…Sora will need someone besides you guys here when he wakes up…I'll be back soon, I promise."

As Marluxia opened a portal right there in the room, he stepped through it and disappeared. When the room had fallen quiet, Rufus left and then shortly returned with a pillow and blanket for Sora so he'd be more comfortable…and prepared to tell them either the best or worst of the situation when more data had been found.

(7th Heaven lobby, 9:30 p.m.)

As a portal opened in the middle of the room, Cloud, Reno, Barrett, and Yuffie all looked up as Marluxia stepped through the portal and closed it up as soon as he was in the middle of the room.

"Cloud? I need to talk to you (sits down next to Cloud on the couch). Rufus told Sora about the Mako Experiments, and he lost consciousness…Rufus is going to keep him overnight to make sure he's ok, but you need to fill him in about what happened with SOLDIER and AVALANCHE all those years ago…where's Riku? He needs to hear about this as well."

While Cloud processed all this, he thought of how much he missed his son and realized that Sora would be safe with Rufus…and looked over at Marluxia who was waiting patiently for an answer to his question.

"Alright, Marluxia- thanks for telling me and keeping me up to date…as for Riku, he said that he was going to visit the Great Northern Crater- he left about an hour ago, maybe you can find him and tell him about all that's happened so far?"

"Alright, where's the Northern Crater (Cloud writes down the directions on a piece of paper and hands it to him)? Thank you." As Marluxia opened another portal, he grasped the paper in his hand and closed it behind him.

(The Great Northern Crater, 9:35 p.m.)

As Riku stared down into the crater, he thought of everything that he'd ever done in his whole life…and realized that since he was without a lover at the moment, he'd become pretty lonely- and that bugged him to no end…true he missed having Sora as a lover, but he knew that Sora's happiness was more important than his selfish desire to have him back. While he thought this all over, he summoned his Keyblade '_Way to The Dawn_' into his hand and said over his shoulder "I know you're there, so don't even bother hiding- I'll hunt you down and kill you if you do…so step out of hiding, _now_."

"Well, you certainly haven't changed at all in those 3 years have you, Riku?"

As Riku turned around, he came face-to-face with…

"Saix…what brings _you_ here, besides to harass me?"

"Now now, there's no need to be so brazen with me…After all, _I'm_ the one who trained you to better use that weapon you're so proud of…besides (moves to corner Riku, grabbing the tip of his Keyblade in his hand), I'm merely here to collect what you promised me…remember?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Saix…now leave me alone."

As Riku turned to walk off, Saix grabbed his wrist and forced Riku around to face him then crashed his lips harshly against Riku's as he used his other arm to hold him up as Riku's eyes widened while he tried to push Saix off of him and run but the taller man had a strong grip on all of his body and realization quickly set in as Riku knew that as long as Saix had him in this position, he wasn't going anywhere.

T.B.C- Oooh, the plot thickens! What will happen to Riku now? Read on to find out!


	11. The Results Of Experimentation

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Wow, Ch.11 already, huh? It's coming along so well…also, I never bothered to mention the pairings at the beginning of this fic, so let me give you a very brief rundown of the fixed pairings in this fic…sorry for the late reminder, but here you go!

SoraxVincent (pretty obvious, lol)

RikuxSaix

CloudxAerith

SephirothxTifa

RenoxRufus

ReinaxDemyx

Any other pairings you want, just message me and I'll try and put them in, ok? Well, here's the chappie!

**Ch.11-The Results of Experimentation**

As Riku stood there, helpless in Saix's controlling grip on him, he could feel himself giving into the overpowering domination of his entire being- and realized that he actually _liked_ being dominated…feeling it was better to actually give in and submit instead of fighting Saix's control off of him.

As Saix felt Riku surrender to him fully, a sadistic smile found its' way onto his face as he licked Riku's bottom lip and slid his tongue in when he heard him gasp and mapped out all of his soon-to-be lover's mouth, finding that he liked the taste of his warm mouth and small tongue.

When the need for air became obvious, Saix relinquished his hold for a moment to allow Riku to breathe. As Riku was panting and catching his breath, he looked into Saix's piercing steel-gold eyes and decided to tell him the truth…it was long overdue, and knew it wouldn't do well to hide things from the slightly taller man in front of him and he pushed him away while gripping his shoulders tightly as he looked down at the ground between them.

"Saix, I haven't told you the _real _reason that Sora and I had been dating…even _he_ doesn't know, because I didn't want to hurt him…but it's time I told you the truth."

As Saix stared at the back of Riku's neck, he saw that Riku was lifting his head to gaze up at him and caught his oceanic stare with his own as Riku prepared to tell him everything.

"The truth is…during the time I spent under your guidance, at first I hated you and wanted nothing more than to surpass you…but as time passed, that hatred slowly melted away and was replaced with admiration at how strong you were…and still _are_ in my opinion, and over more time that changed into a bit of a crush, and then I only now realize perhaps too late that I'm in love with you…but, after Sora defeated you I was lost under a nameless emotion which later turned into sorrow…so, I hooked up with Sora to ease my pain, and I loved him too- but not as much (embraces Saix) as I still love you."

As Saix stood there with Riku's arms around his frame, a million things were swimming in his mind at the moment…but one thing was certain: his feelings had been returned, for the longest time he'd been waiting for Riku to tell him those 3 simple yet complicated words, and he finally got his wish.

"Riku (strokes the top of his scalp), I can't believe you finally said them- those three words I'd been waiting to hear you say for the longest time in my life, and I want you to know that even though I'm not the easiest man to handle, that I love you too."

As the two of them stayed like that in their moment, a portal opened up behind Riku and Saix watched as Marluxia stepped out to greet them.

"Am I interrupting something?"

As he stepped out, Saix and Riku looked away for a moment until Saix looked Marluxia straight in the eye and said "No…so, what brings you here Marluxia?"

"Actually, I'm here for Riku…it's very important that I tell him this information."

As Riku turned to look at Marluxia with a questioning stare, Marluxia looked straight at him and prepared to tell him what had happened to Sora.

"Riku, it's about Sora…he collapsed from exhaustion, and he'll be staying at the Shinra Estate until everything is all cleared up. But, has Sephiroth told you of the Mako Experiments he underwent growing up?"

"Sephiroth is my father, and no he didn't tell me…what are the 'Mako Experiments' and how do they relate to me?"

"Well, Mako Cells come from the LifeStream that circles our entire planet. The LifeStream houses the souls of the deceased, but they can be used for a number of things…they were first used on your father and Cloud many years ago to turn them into the ultimate weapons to protect humanity from disaster and annihilation. Since you and Sora are their children, there's a chance that those Mako Cells have been passed onto you- but we don't know what other effects they may have carried over into your bloodline or genes. We'll have to find out over the next few days, but if you want to see Sora then you'll have to come with me Riku."

As Riku stood there and took all this in, he decided that he owed it to Sora to see if he was doing alright…even if they were with different lovers now, that didn't mean that they weren't still friends.

"Alright, I'll go see him…are you coming Saix?"

"Sure, why not? I still have to thank Sora for showing me the true value of having a heart."

As all three of them stepped through the portal, Riku thought of how all this could have turned from a vacation into something so horribly wrong.

(With Reina and Demyx, 9:50 p.m.)

As Reina flopped down on the couch in the apartment that she and Reno shared, she held her head in frustration…she'd been spending the last few days trying to teach Demyx how to be human again instead of a dog, but it was harder than it seemed.

(4 days ago)

'_Demyx, I made grilled cheese for lunch!'_

_As Demyx heard her mention food, he grabbed his food bowl and held it in his hands, begging for the sandwich._

'_Um, what are you doing?'_

'_Waiting for the food.'_

'_You silly boy, sit at the table and use a plate like me…I'll show you how, ok?'_

'_Can't I just eat out of my bowl like I always do?'_

"_No, you're human! You need to start acting like one!'_

2 days after that, it had gotten almost embarrassing to take him out for a walk around town.

(2 days later)

'_Demyx, I'm going shopping! We're out of bottled iced tea, and I need to pick up ingredients for tonight's dinner.'_

_As he heard her say that she was going out, his tail started wagging like crazy and his ears perked up as he grabbed his leash and collar then ran right over to her with them, waiting to be hitched up for his walk._

'_I'm ready to go!'_

'_Demyx…why do you have your leash and collar?'_

'_Because I'm ready to go on a walk with you!'_

'_Not with the leash and collar, Demyx! Just throw on a t-shirt and some jeans, and then we'll go.'_

'_Does that mean I have to wear panties again?'_

'_I'd imagine you would! You can't go around naked under your pants, that's just awkward!'_

'_But they're _so_ uncomfortable! How can you stand to wear them?!'_

'_(sighs) Come on, let me help you out.'_

But the absolute worst was when he went to the park and tried playing hide-and-seek in the trees.

(The park, yesterday afternoon)

_After she told Demyx they were going to the park, he practically ran to the door and sat in front of it, tail wagging with a huge smile on his face. After they'd gotten to the park, Demyx had said he wanted to play hide-and-seek with Reina, so she reluctantly agreed and started counting to 30 as he picked a place to hide._

'_28…29…30. Ready or not, here I come Demyx! Demyx? Where are you hiding? (hears a rustling in the bushes as Demyx pops out holding his pants between his legs) Demyx! What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?!'_

'_No, I have to go to the bathroom!'_

'_So go, already.'_

'_But I can't with all those people watching!'_

'_(slaps forehead with her hand) I meant go into the men's room and use one of the toilets!'_

'_But, can't I just-'_

'_No, only homeless people do that! Listen, you're not a dog anymore- you can't just go use whatever tree you want to relieve yourself…look, I'll walk you up to the restroom- and then just go into one of the stalls and squat down.'_

'_But, then what after that? Won't you just pick it up like usual?'_

"_Eww, no! Just use the handle on the side to flush it away!'_

'_Ok, I'll try…are you sure I can't-'_

'_Yes!' _

(Flashback ends)

Reina almost got a migraine from all the effort she'd gone through to re-civilize Demyx…but, he was finally learning how to be human again as he came downstairs wearing a robe while towel drying his hair and ears.

"Is something wrong?"

As she looked up at him, she almost got a nosebleed at him being all wet with his hair being straight down from the water of the shower.

"N-no, I was just remembering how it was quite the adventure trying to teach you to be human again…so, do you feel better now?"

"Yeah, that shower felt so much better that licking myself clean! By the way, I heard that there was going to be something called a 'Rave' tomorrow night down at the nightclub…do you want to go?"

At hearing that there was a rave, she almost tackled Demyx into the couch…if there was one thing Reina loved more than food, teasing her brother, and overall being a tomboy troublemaker, it was dancing.

"Oh my god, yes! I love dancing!"

"I heard that there was going to be some K-Pop group there…I think they're called B.A.P.?"

And Reina nearly fainted at hearing that one of her most favorite ever K-Pop groups would be there at the rave.

"Yes, I'll go with you Demyx! It's tomorrow night, right?"

"Yes, but I just have a question for you."

"Yeah?"

"What's a rave?"

(Shinra Estate, 4 days later, 3:00 p.m.)

As Rufus sat at his desk, he analyzed the results of Sora's blood sample he'd taken…and no matter how many times he'd gone over it, he still couldn't believe what he'd seen- from the data, Sora had indeed inherited the Mako Cells from Cloud…as well as a rather strange side effect, but he'd tell Sora that when he woke up- he'd been sleeping peacefully for the last 4 days, and he needed it as he turned his attention back to the monitor that showed Sora sleeping soundly with Zenu and Vincent both watching over him…and decided it was time they know what the results were.

(In the computer room, 3:05 p.m.)

As Sora lay sleeping on the table, Vincent could now see the dark circles under his eyes. It was obvious that he hadn't been sleeping very well or at all, actually. He was just glad that he was finally getting some much needed sleep, the only time he'd actually gotten up was when he had to puke, and that had been pretty frequent over the last few days he'd been there…Rufus felt that it was safer to keep him for a few days instead of just overnight. As Vincent was letting out a sigh and grabbing Sora's hand, the door nearby opened to reveal Rufus with a concerned look on his face.

"Well, Rufus? What's wrong with Sora?!"

"Well, there's no easy way for me to say this…but Sora has indeed inherited the Mako Cells from Cloud, as well as a strange side effect…I'm not quite sure how to say this, but-"

At this point, Zenu was getting sick of being kept in the dark about his friend's condition and yelled out "Just say it, already! It can't be any worse than the trauma he's already endured!"

"(sighs) Very well, then…the results of the blood test are back, and…"

"(Vincent and Zenu) And?!"

"Sora's pregnant…with that man Chisato's child. I'm sorry, you two."

As the two of them sat there, they each had different reactions: Zenu sat there shocked, unable to believe that his friend was pregnant…and Vincent broke down and cried, laying his head on Sora's stomach and sobbing into his shirt as he felt a hand tiredly reach over and stroke his head as Vincent looked up to see Sora awake and staring at him with those sapphire orbs and a smile on his face.

"Vincent, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"Well, Sora…(sniffles) it seems you inherited Mako Cells from your father, and…you're pregnant."

Sora just sat there and took all this in, then he also broke down and cried hysterically as Vincent pulled him close and held him to his thin but strong frame while rubbing circles into his back soothingly.

"Don't worry, Sora- I'll protect both you and our child."

"W-wait- (sniffles and wipes tears away) you mean you'll raise a child that's not even yours?!"

"Of course, I told you before- I'm not going to leave you, I love you too much to walk out of your life forever…Rufus, how far along is he?"

"Well, according to the data he's at least 3 weeks along…it's not much, but the results don't lie- he's definitely pregnant…Sora, you'll have to keep an eye on what you eat from now on, make sure it's a healthy balance so you don't make the child sick, also when you reach your 4th month call me and I'll send you some antibody medicine to help with the child's immune system growth…and by that time you should be able to find out the sex of the baby, so now I think it's time to send you home to your father. I'll have Tseng drive you guys back to 7th Heaven, and be sure to tell your father about this, alright?"

As Sora sat up and hopped down off of the table, he still couldn't believe what he'd heard…that he was pregnant, and with a child that wasn't even Vincent's…it was the child of that fucker who'd raped him- Chisato! But, Sora couldn't bring himself to hate the child…it wasn't their fault this all happened to him, so he just decided to hate their father for it all, and hoped he had died a terrible death as Vincent and Zenu had started to walk him out of the estate and to the limo that Tseng had brought up for them.

As the car ride was silent, he thought of how his father would take hearing that his son was pregnant…and just decided to see what would happen when he told him.

(7th Heaven, 3:20 p.m.)

As the limo pulled up outside the bar, Reno went out to see who was being brought here and was surprised to find Sora, Vincent, and that other guy he'd heard about…realizing that he'd never actually learned his name.

"Hey guys, you're back…and what's your name?"

As Zenu stepped out of the vehicle, he turned to the redhead who was addressing him.

"Zenu, and you are?"

"Reno Sinclaire. Nice to finally meet you."

"Same here…I saw a girl who looked exactly like you."

"Oh, that's Reina- my sister."

"I can tell, the resemblance is uncanny."

"Anyway, I'm pretty sure there's a reason why you guys are back here."

"Yeah, Sora had something to tell his dad."

As Sora stood in front of his father, who stared at him with a questioning look on his face, he realized that there was really no easy way to say this, so he braced himself for the worst as Barrett, Yuffie, Reina, Demyx, Denzel, and Marlene stepped through the door just as Sora was about to make his announcement.

"I thought I'd call our friends over to hear this as well…so, what is it you want to tell us?"

As Sora stared around the room at all his friends, he took a deep breath and just came out with it.

"Dad, guys…Rufus confirmed that I inherited the Mako Cells from you, and a side effect of that inheritance is that…I'm pregnant."

As the news settled in, everyone had different reactions: Reno, Yuffie, and Barrett fainted, Reina, Demyx, Denzel, Cid, and Marlene all stood there shocked and unable to believe what they'd just heard, and Cloud did the only thing that a father could do at this point.

He broke down and cried.

T.B.C.- I know I'm such a bad girl, so read on and find out what's next!


	12. Dealing With Reality

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Wow, it's already Ch.12! I feel so alive right now, I could burst from it all…but I'll stay in one piece for you guys, because then who would finish this fic? Anyway, time for the chappie!

**Ch.12- Dealing with Reality Is Harder Than It Sounds**

As Cloud sat there and wept for his son, he felt Sora's hand grasp his and looked to see him lean down so he was eye-level with him and felt Sora pull him into a hug and heard a muffled "I'm sorry, dad…I didn't want this to happen either, but I want to keep the child…even though it was given to me by way of pain and rape."

As Cloud listened to his son's words, he couldn't believe how mature he sounded at this moment. "Alright, you can keep it if you want- but your mother deserves to know about this, as does Roxas, Axel, your cousins, and friends…will you tell them when we get back to Radiant Garden?"

As Sora pulled away and wiped his father's tears from his face, he looked at him and replied "Yeah, I'll let them know when we get home…I promise."

"Good, now then- what do we do next?"

"Well, I think it's time I told you something that I've kept from you long enough…Dad, Vincent and I want to have a serious relationship, and he's agreed to help me raise this child even though he's not the father."

While Cloud listened to Sora confess, in a way, his love for Vincent he couldn't help but let a smile grace his lips and knew that Sora would be in good hands with the dark gunman…also, the fact that Vincent was willing to help raise a child that wasn't his own gave him a sense of relief that he hadn't felt since who knows how long.

"Alright Sora, I am truly happy for you son- and I know that Vincent will make a great father to your child…Vincent, take good care of Sora, understand?"

As Cloud said this, Vincent appeared next to Sora and put his arm on Sora's shoulder and stared straight at his old friend before he told him "Don't worry- I will, and I promise that I will let nothing happen to him and our child."

As Sora looked up at Vincent at hearing him say 'our child', he couldn't help but let a smile grace his features as Vincent leaned down to catch his lips in a sweet and gentle kiss that was brief but meaningful.

As the two lovers were sharing a kiss in front of Cloud, Reina then decided to break out of her shock and walked up to the two of them just as the kiss ended and excitedly said "Hey guys, there's a rave tonight! Demyx and I were gonna go and have some fun dancing…do you guys wanna tag along? It'll get your mind off of this whole uncomfortable situation, so what do ya say?"

As the two of them looked to each other, Sora thought that sounded fun and said "Sure, I'll come along. What about you, Vincent?"

"….I've never been dancing before, what if I embarrass you Sora?"

"You _won't_ embarrass me, Vincent- besides, it won't be as much fun for me without you there."

"Well, if you really want me to, I suppose I'll come along."

"Great, I'll see you guys outside the club called '_Silver Star_' at 8, ok?"

"Sure thing, Reina."

When Reina saw how Sora's face lit up at the thought of going out to have fun with his friends, she pulled Demyx out the door to find him some good clubbing clothes as the brunette went upstairs to find some good dance clothes. As Sora looked through his suitcase, he set out a black halter-top, slightly long shorts with a red/silver studded belt and a star-pendant necklace as he heard a knock at his door then yelled out 'Come In' and saw that it was Vincent as he stepped in and closed the door behind him.

"Getting ready for tonight?"

"Yeah…and you?"

"I don't really have any good dancing clothes…I've never been out dancing before, so I've never had to bother shopping for those kinds of clothes."

"Well, I have an idea- why don't we go out today and find you something? I'm sure this town has a clothing store around here somewhere."

"Well, I suppose we could-"

"Great, let's go- I'm all done in here, anyway."

As they came downstairs, Sora told Cloud that he and Vincent were going clothes shopping then Cloud gave him his credit card, and Sora hugged his dad with a smile on his face as he practically dragged the gunman out the door to go find him some new clothes. At watching the two depart, Cloud was even happier now at seeing his son with the love of his life than ever before.

(3 hours later, 6:20 p.m.)

When the two of them finally came back to the hotel, Sora found a note from his dad saying that he and the others would be back later after the celebration of Rufus and Reno's 5th anniversary as Sora went upstairs to take a shower leaving Vincent to look through some of the clothes that Sora had bought him…he finally picked out a nice casual outfit as Sora came down around 7:00 fully dressed- in Vincent's eyes, Sora could've easily been a male model if he'd wanted to, then he walked up to him pulling him into an embrace and said "You look good, Sora…do you want to have a bite to eat before we head out?"

"Sure, I'm really hungry anyway…dancing on an empty stomach is not a good idea."

As Vincent moved into the kitchen, he cut up some veggies and some meat that was in the fridge then proceeded to quick-sear them…most people didn't know this but Vincent was an excellent cook, and after 20 minutes, he set 2 plates down on the coffee table then sat next to Sora as the two of them ate the seared meat and veggies.

"Wow Vincent, this is really good- who knew you were such a great cook."

"Well, some things you need to learn to get by- and this is one of the skills I needed to learn in the event I ended up living alone…but now I'm not alone because I have you in my life, Sora."

At hearing Vincent's confession of this, Sora blushed slightly and looked down at his plate and mumbled "Thank you, Vincent."

After the two of them finished eating and cleaning up the dishes, Vincent went upstairs and changed into his clothes. After a few minutes, he came down stairs wearing the clothes he'd picked out while Sora was showering: a black t-shirt and black skinny jeans with a red studded belt, a red headband to pull his bangs out of his eyes as his long black hair fell behind his shoulders and he slipped on his black converses as he decided to ditch the cowl for tonight, and Sora could see his entire frame and face- he was thin and really well built, and his face was even more stunning without the red cowl hiding it.

As he stood there in the doorway, Sora got up and walked over to Vincent and said "Wait here, I'll be right back." As Sora walked upstairs, he then came back downstairs with a red hair tie then removed the headband, pulled Vincent's hair back and braided it then tied it back as he stood to admire his handiwork.

"There, _now_ you look great- you should wear your hair like this more often, it suits you. So, shall we get going?"

"Sure, after you."

The two of them headed out after Sora grabbed his keys and they headed off to the club.

(Silver Star exterior, 7:55 p.m.)

As Reina and Demyx waited outside for their friends to show up, Reina took in Demyx's look from the corner of her eye…honestly, she'd outdone herself this time: a nice dark-grey t-shirt that said 'B.A.P- Best, Absolute, Perfect!' in blue letters, dark-blue skinny jeans with white sneakers and a green glowstick tied around his neck, his ears up and alert and tail wagging slightly. She herself had worn a nice outfit- red skinny jeans and a blue t-shirt with an orange glowstick on her wrist as she saw Vincent and Sora come walking up to them.

"Hey, you guys made it! And just in time, too- they're opening the doors and letting people in. So, let's go dancing!" as Reina headed inside, the other 3 followed in for a night of excitement and dancing.

(4 hours later, 11:55 p.m.)

Vincent could say a lot of things about his life- he'd been asleep in a coffin for 30 years, he'd fought countless enemies, he felt regret for not being able to save someone precious to him, but never had he thought that he'd actually _enjoy_ dancing in a social outing like this! He could also say that B.A.P. was his favorite band now, as he and Sora had both pulled away into a deeper part of the club to not only catch their breath from all the dancing, but also so that they could have some downtime alone with just the two of them.

As Vincent led Sora to the back rooms, they could hear that the music had quieted down somewhat to a dull booming sound. When they were both far enough away, Vincent sat Sora down on one of the couches big enough to sit at least 10 people and moved to get them both something to drink.

"Sora, can I get you a drink?"

"Sure, is there any water or punch?"

"It looks like there's some water and pineapple juice, which one do you want?"

"How about some water?"

"Ok, be right back."

As Sora watched Vincent walk towards the dispensers for the two drink choices, he could not help but notice how well the jeans fit Vincent…the way they sat snug against his thin hips nearly had Sora drooling right there but he resisted the urge as Vincent came back a few minutes later with their drinks. He then handed Sora his water and sat next to him as they both silently enjoyed each other's company while rehydrating their dried out windpipes.

As Vincent watched Sora drink his water, he had to suppress a moan as he saw the water spill down his throat while some of it went over his lips and down his chin, flowing slowly down his neck in the most natural of ways…Sora then set his water down on the table across from them, and stared at Vincent's piercing red orbs for what felt like an eternity.

(WARNING: Lemon scene coming up! Skip down to the end if you don't read that sort of thing…in which case, why are you even here?!)

As they stared into each other's eyes, Vincent moved forward and caught Sora's lips in a sweet but dominating kiss as he laid his lover down onto the couch and kicked off his shoes onto the floor. He then moved down to Sora's neck and began sucking on it, hearing Sora let out a moan of pleasure as he used his tongue to leave a red mark showing that the brunette was no one's but his.

As Sora relished the way Vincent's tongue worked its' magic on his neck, he instinctively wrapped his arms around his neck as he helped him work off his shirt and then Sora took off his own and both were shirtless as Sora stared at Vincent's body: all the scars, the bullet holes, and the old, closed up injuries that littered his chest and torso as Vincent looked away ashamedly.

'_Does he honestly believe I wouldn't love _this_ part of him as well?'_

"Vincent, look at me (grabs Vincent's face gently towards him to look at him) I love _all_ of you- scars included."

"Do you really mean it?"

"Of course, I would never turn away because of a few scars or bullet holes…if anything, they make you even _more_ beautiful to me in my eyes. I love you, Vincent Valentine…every part of you."

Vincent leaned down and kissed Sora right between his eyes, then looked at the one who accepted him for all that he was, scars included.

"Sora, thank you…for everything that you are, and for accepting me for not just me but my scars as well."

Vincent said as he leaned down and continued his ministrations upon Sora's body, starting with a trail of gentle ghosting kisses down his chest and stopping on his stomach as his hands moved to undo Sora's belt while his lover leaned up to place a kiss on Vincent's collarbone and then his neck.

"Ah ah, not just yet…(lowers Sora down beneath him) I can't let you have all the fun."

As Vincent worked off Sora's belt and pants, he discarded them onto the floor as Sora's nimble hands managed to work off Vincent's pants as well until both of them had only their underwear on as Vincent slowly pulled Sora's off and took all of the brunette's length into his mouth at once to slick up his hardened member.

"Unh, V-vincent! More, m-more!"

At hearing his whines of pleasure and begging, he kept going until he felt Sora come into his mouth and swallowed all of his seed. He then sat up and motioned for Sora to also suck him off because he didn't want to hurt him when he took him…he wanted it to feel good for both of them as he looked down when he saw and felt Sora clamp his lips around his strained cock as he began to suck gently upon the head, and nearly lost it when he felt Sora's tongue lick the underside as he felt him take the whole shaft into his mouth and finally came when Sora gave one last suck as he promptly pushed him off while he presented 3 fingers and watched, entranced, as Sora took them into his mouth and slicked them up with his saliva.

After all three digits were sufficiently coated, he flipped Sora onto his hands and knees and inserted the first finger into his waiting entrance, pressing against his prostrate and making Sora cry out in sheer pleasure as he moaned out "Y-yes! Right there, Vincent! Again, P-please!"

As Vincent managed to work in the second finger, he started scissoring as he also inserted the last finger and after sufficient stretching, he pulled out the digits as he heard Sora disappointedly whimper.

"It's alright, I promise it'll get better in a minute."

As Vincent lined himself up with Sora's waiting entrance, he grabbed his hips gently but firmly as he started pushing in slowly to allow Sora time to adjust and decided to push in further when he felt his lover push against him and finally sheathed himself all the way inside as Sora moaned out his name rather erotically.

"V-vincent, pl-please…"

"Please what, Sora?" he said with a husky, lust-filled voice that nearly sent Sora over the edge at how sexy it sounded to him as he also felt shivers of pleasure and excitement run down his spine.

"P-please move! I need you to fill me all the way through, please Vincent!"

"That's what I thought, Sora…I'll try to make this as comfortable for you as possible."

As Vincent began thrusting slowly into Sora, he could feel him adjusting and increased his pace until both were moaning out each other's names and Vincent felt himself come inside Sora as he moved his hand down between his legs to pump his member in time to his thrusts and savored the way that Sora moaned out his name as he felt him come onto the couch and turned him around to lay on his back as he finished his thrusting and then the two of them lay next to each other on the couch, both feeling satisfied and spent.

(Lemon scene over, for those of you who skipped it, I'm ashamed at you! For those who didn't, then that's great!)

As Sora lay next to Vincent, he stared at his lover and kissed him on his cheek as Vincent draped an arm over his waist and got up while pulling out of Sora, ignoring Sora's whine of disappointment at the empty feeling in him as Vincent handed him his clothes and put his own back on as he looked at the time- 1:20 in the morning.

"Sora, we need to get you home and cleaned up…I suspect they'll be closing soon, and Reina and Demyx have most likely gone home already."

"Alright, but are we going back to 7th Heaven? It seems kinda late to go back there, and we can't really stay here all night."

"You're right about that…we'll go to my house, how does that sound?"

Sora then realized he had never even bothered to ask if Vincent actually _owned_ a house. He actually didn't know why he'd never even bothered to ask as he pulled his shirt on over his torso.

"Really? I hope it's not too much trouble having me over at your place."

"It's no trouble at all, Sora. But I won't be staying there much longer."

"Why not?"

"Because, I haven't been able to make the mortgage payments on it for about a month now. Also…"

"What?"

"I was thinking of moving to Radiant Garden…at first, it was only because I wanted to be closer to Cloud, but now it's because I want to be with you so we won't be far away from each other."

"I never thought you'd really consider that…Riku never even _talked_ about that with me, I guess he didn't want to be that close to me."

"Well, then he didn't deserve you…but let me restate what I just said: I want to move into a house _with_ you- I want us to live in the same house_ together_, Sora."

As Vincent told Sora that he wanted them to move in together, he nearly fainted at hearing that.

"Do you really mean that, Vincent?"

"Yes, I would never lie to you about that."

At hearing that Vincent really meant it when he said he wanted them to share a home together, Sora hugged him in pure happiness.

"Thank you, Vincent! But wait…I'm in my last year of high school, I'll have to get a job when I graduate and go into college as well!"

"Don't worry, we'll find a way to make this work…but until then, let's go home Sora…together."

As Vincent helped Sora to his feet, they held hands while they made their way to Vincent's home.

(Vincent's House, 1:45 a.m.)

As Vincent turned the key and opened the door, he took his shoes off and set them in the hall and had Sora do the same as he took in the simple house: the walls were a pale blue-green, it had a kitchen and bar, and looked to have 2 bedrooms with a fully functioning bathroom.

"The bedrooms and bath are upstairs…why don't you go get cleaned up and I'll find something for you to sleep in?"

"Ok, thank you Vincent."

"It's alright, Sora."

As Sora made his way upstairs, he saw Vincent rifling through drawers to find something for them to sleep in for the rest of the night.

(10 minutes later, 1:55 a.m.)

As Sora stepped out of the shower, his phone started ringing and he'd almost forgotten he had brought it along…if there was one thing his mom was always being insistent about, it was his phone and he picked up the call before whoever it was on the other end decided to hang up.

"Hello?"

"Sora, it's your father. Why didn't you answer when I called earlier?"

"Sorry, I couldn't hear my phone over the loud music in the club…so, what's up?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm at Vincent's house…why?"

"Ok, firstly I just wanted to make sure you were safe…secondly, we're heading back home in the morning- your mother is worried, plus you need to go back to school and finish your classes. We'll be leaving at 10:00 in the morning, so be back here by 9:00 to get your things together. See you when you get back, I love you Sora."

And as he heard his dad hang up, Sora nearly dropped the phone onto the floor his mouth hanging open in shock.

'_Leaving? But how can I just _leave_ when I promised Vincent that I'd stay with him?!'_

As Sora stepped out into the hall, he ran smack into the man he'd promised to give his life to and looked up at Vincent with tears running down his face as he embraced him like he would disappear if he didn't hold onto him for dear life.

"Sora, what's wrong? Why are you crying?!" Vincent asked, hoping to Jenova and the Ancients that Sora wasn't going to just up and leave him alone.

"Because, my dad's taking me back home today…we're leaving around 10, but I don't want to leave you Vincent, I love you!"

While Vincent held Sora close, he stroked the top of his head as he kissed his hair before he looked down at him and said "Don't worry, I promise I'll find a home close to you so you don't have to think of me being so far away from you…ok?"

After Sora wiped away the tears on his face, he smiled at his crimson gunman and said "Ok, Vincent…by the way, did you find me something to sleep in?"

"Actually, I did manage to find a shirt that was a little too small on me but it might fit you…I also have some boxers that I outgrew so you can wear those too…don't worry, I did some laundry the other day so they're clean. Here, try them on."

As Sora turned away, he put the clothes on and Vincent tried his best not to peek until Sora was fully dressed, noting that the clothes did indeed fit him perfectly. As Vincent led them to the bedroom and they both lay in the bed, Sora snuggled against Vincent for what he hoped wouldn't be the very last time they were together like this.

T.B.C- Ooh, I'm so naughty for putting in a lemon…but hey, it was bound to happen sooner or later anyway right? Anyway, next chapter will be up soon so read and review plz? Thank u!


	13. Home Is Where Your Heart Is

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Alright, Ch.13! can't believe it's this far already, I might put in some moments with Riku and Saix in this chapter, as well as explain how Rufus and Reno hooked up 5 years ago…anyway, time for the chappie!

**Ch.13- Home Is Where your Heart Is Truly Happy**

(Vincent's House, Morning- 7:15 a.m.)

As Sora stretched and popped his sore and stiff muscles, he saw that Vincent was still asleep then decided to lean down and pressed a gentle kiss on his cheek as he rolled over in his sleep onto his right side as Sora decided to go take a shower and stepped into the bathroom for a quick shower as Vincent still lay asleep in the bed.

(20 minutes later, 7:35 a.m.)

As Sora stepped out into the bathroom, he saw a hairbrush on the counter that obviously belonged to Vincent and used it to brush his spiked up hair because he'd left his at the hotel along with all his other stuff…and at remembering that he had to leave today and go back home, he felt pain rise up in his chest as tears threatened to fall from his blue orbs and he also realized that he had to leave Vincent too…as well as all his new friends.

When he'd wiped his eyes of the tears, he also realized that he had no clothes of his own to wear, but looked at the counter and saw the clothes he'd worn yesterday folded neatly on the counter with a note on top that said _'I washed your clothes for you, so you'd have something to wear for the trip back.-Vincent'_ and Sora smiled at the note- Vincent really did think of him so much, even when he was asleep…Sora then realized that must've been the reason why he looked so tired this morning and so he decided that he'd make him breakfast as his way of thanking him for everything that he'd done for him up to this point and got dressed as he felt a grin slip onto his face.

As Sora quietly slipped out of the bathroom, he saw that Vincent was still sleeping and soundlessly made his way down into the kitchen and proceeded to make them both a simple platter of eggs, waffles and a cup of coffee for Vincent as well as a cup of tea for himself and started heating the water while he set about preparing the rest of breakfast.

(upstairs in the bedroom, 7:40 a.m.)

As Vincent sat up in his bed, he saw that the pajamas that he'd loaned Sora were in the hamper in the corner as he surmised that Sora must have already been awake and fully dressed as his nose caught the smell of food being cooked and realized that Sora must be in the kitchen as he threw on a pair of straight jeans, a t-shirt and socks as he pulled his hair back and headed downstairs.

As Vincent finally reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw something he thought was absolutely perfect: Sora standing in the kitchen wearing a red apron while holding a spatula in his left hand and a plate of food in his right hand as he smiled at Vincent and set the plate in front of his place at the table.

"Good morning, Vincent. I made you some breakfast and a cup of coffee as my way of saying thank you for all you've done for me this whole time I've been here in Nibelheim."

"You didn't have to do this, Sora…but, I'm happy either way, and I did everything I have for _us_. So, sit down and we'll eat together before I take you back to the hotel."

"Ok, just let me get my plate and tea-"

"No, _you _sit down- _I'll _get that for you."

As Vincent sat Sora down in the seat across from him, he grabbed the plate of eggs and waffles and the cup of peppermint tea then set them in front of Sora as he sat across from him and heard Sora say "Thank you, Vincent."

"You're very welcome, Sora." As the two of them sat and ate their food enjoying each other's company.

(15 minutes later, 7:55 a.m.)

While Vincent put the dishes in the sink and proceeded to wash them, he saw Sora step up next to him and heard him say "I'll help you, this way they get washed faster ya know?"

Vincent smiled at the gesture as they washed the dishes together and then after they were done, they left the house and went back to the hotel.

(20 minutes later, 8:15 a.m.)

As Sora opened the door, he was greeted by his dad who hugged him and asked him if he was ok, to which Sora explained that he was just fine as he went upstairs to pack all his clothes and other belongings as Vincent moved to talk with Cloud about his desire to be with Sora for the rest of their lives.

"Listen, Cloud- I plan on moving to Radiant Garden so I can stay close to Sora…I'm also going to find a job until he graduates from college, and then I'm going to marry him. I don't want to even _think_ of living without him…I could use your blessing, although I could live without it if I must."

As Cloud looked at him straight on, he could tell that Vincent wasn't lying and was truly happy for his friend and his son, then thought that maybe he _could_ trust that Sora _wouldn't_ get hurt again and held Vincent's hand gently in his own as he smiled at him.

"Alright Vincent, I hereby give you my blessing to have Sora as yours for your whole lives…just don't let _anything_ happen to him, ok?"

"I swear on my life that I will treat Sora like a treasure every single day of our lives and I won't let anything happen to make him unhappy."

(Upstairs, Sora's room- 8:25 a.m.)

As Sora packed away his violin, he thought of how he was going to face a life without Vincent by his side and quietly wished that he could live _here_ instead of Radiant Garden- but then he thought of his brother Roxas, his cousins Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo, and of all his friends back home waiting for him, as well as his mom Aerith, and realized that he was just being selfish as he decided to be strong and face everything that was waiting for him back home and brought his hand to his stomach and thought of how he was going to explain his pregnancy without freaking everyone out about it.

While he put his bag on the floor, he smiled as he thought about everything that had happened and decided to tell Rufus that he was going home soon. As Sora pulled out his cell phone, he dialed Rufus' number and waited patiently until he heard a voice on the other side answer "Hello?"

"Hey Rufus, it's Sora…I'm going home today so I thought I'd tell you."

"Oh, thank you Sora- I'll have your medicine sent to your home address, just call me when you get home and let me know so they don't end up at the wrong house."

"Ok, by the way, how was your anniversary celebration with Reno?"

"It was wonderful, why do you ask?"

"I was just curious…so how exactly _did_ you guys end up together?"

"Well, that's a rather interesting story right there…I'll tell you before you leave, so get ready because here it is."

As Sora sat down on the bed, he listened intently to Rufus' story of how he and Reno ended up together for 5 years.

"Well, where do I start? Reno began working for me as one of the Turks as his sister was put through classes at the nearby middle school…I'll never forget the day he was first transferred to his team, how beautiful I thought he was…"

(Flashback to 5 years ago, Reno: age 16 and Reina: age 10)

_As Reina prepared to go to Nibelheim Academy, she looked at her brother with sad eyes as he was dressed in his work uniform. She knew he had to work, but with both their parents gone after abandoning their kids, she hoped he would see her off to school that morning._

"_Reno, do you really have to leave now? It's barely even 6:00."_

_As Reno straightened his crooked tie that rested against his white shirt while he adjusted his black jacket and slacks, he pulled his shoulder-length red hair back then he looked down at his sister and ruffled her hair affectionately._

"_Afraid so, besides someone's gotta put you through school and food on the table…last time I checked, little girls had fun in school with their friends while their big brothers worked hard for them, ya know?"_

_As Reina let Reno ruffle her hair, she looked at herself in the mirror in her uniform: a dark blue blazer with a striped red tie, white shirt and a dark blue skirt with black leggings, her short red hair hanging loosely down the back of her neck._

"_Ok, I guess I could try cheering up."_

"_There ya go! Now let's hurry, or I'll be late. I've packed you a lunch, and I'll be home around 5:00 to make you dinner so be careful ok?"_

"_Ok, well I'm off."_

_As Reno watched his only sister run off to school, he smiled at how much she'd grown in only 3 years. Ever since his parents sent him that letter that said having them around was too much work and they couldn't handle it anymore, he had to hold his 7 year old sister as she cried in his arms for 2 hours that night and finally fell asleep from the strain of her tears…since then, he'd promised he would take care of her by holding down a lot of temporary jobs to put her through school and make sure she could eat. He finally lucked out after 3 whole years and landed a position at the Shinra Electric Power Corporation, and he soon left for work._

_As Reno hopped on his motorcycle, he started it up and sped off to Shinra Inc. for what he was sure would be a thrilling new job. Little did he realize how much friction there would be between him and his new boss._

"He _hated_ you?!"

"At first he did, he thought I was the worst man he'd ever met…love doesn't build up overnight, you know."

_As Reno stood next to his fellow Turks, he looked up to see a man with short blond hair staring down at them with a blank face…and Reno felt like this man was looking down on him like Reno was a stray dog to be kicked and abused, and decided to give him a piece of his mind when he got the chance to talk to him._

"_Welcome, all of you, to Shinra. I'm so glad you've been hired to work for our wonderful company…all of this city's electric energy and power comes from us, and it's all of you who make that possible. So, be sure to work hard and you'll be just rewarded for your efforts. Have a great day, everyone."_

_As he stepped down off of the platform, Reno narrowed his eyes at Rufus and shouted "Hey, you! Don't think you can look down on the rest of us just because we weren't born into a life of privilege like you!" As Rufus stopped at Reno's words, he turned his head and locked eyes with his narrowed, hate-filled ones that felt like they trapped you under their intensity._

"_And you are…?"_

"_Reno Sinclaire…why does that matter to _you_, anyway?!"_

"_Sinclaire? Let me see…Sinclaire…Sinclaire…Ah yes, the 'Odd Jobs Boy'. I saw your job history, and I truly feel sorry for you to have worked so many jobs that you can't even afford to eat half the time."_

_It was in that moment that Reno truly felt nothing more than deep hatred for his boss, and decided that before the day was out he would make him see that he wasn't one to spit on as you walk past._

"_Shut up! I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing it for the only family I have left in this world- my little sister!"_

_At seeing Reno get even more angry with him, Rufus realized that he was really cute when riled up…and at hearing that he was doing it not for himself but his sister, he felt a little ashamed for calling him out on it but wouldn't let him see that just yet and decided simply to play it off as indifference._

"_Listen, I don't really _care_ what your reasons are for taking a job here- just remember exactly _why_ you're here in the first place, Mr. Sinclaire."_

_And so, their somewhat relationship began…one that would hit more snags than smooth sailings._

"I can't believe you guys were at each other's throats on your first day!" Sora said with shock evident in his voice.

"Yes well, it shocked me that he was doing it for someone else rather than himself…I had only ever met people who did things for their _own_ benefit, so I decided that I'd make him see that I wasn't as evil as he thought I was…but it would take a while to accomplish."

_As Reno kept working for Shinra, he found that other than the fact that his boss was a total dick, he actually enjoyed the pay and the work schedule…it meant that he could better provide for his sister…as he finished up another shift, he looked at the wall calendar in the locker room and saw what tomorrow's date was: September 13__th__, his sister's birthday…as well as the day his parents left them both forever._

"_Hello, Reno…heading home for the day?" as Reno heard Rufus call him by his first name- which he couldn't _stand_ at all, he didn't even say anything in response to him…he just stood there, lost in his terrible memories of the day he received that letter from his mother Helena Sinclaire saying that he and Reina were on their own from now on._

"_Reno? Is something wrong? You're not threatening me, or getting angry at the fact that I've called you by your first name twice…Are you even listening to me?!" As Rufus whirled Reno around to look at him, he saw something that shocked him: Reno was staring at him with a sad expression on his face and had tears streaming down his cheeks from his blue-green eyes._

"_I-I'm sorry, Reno, I didn't mean to make you cry like that-"_

"_No, it's not you…listen, can I have tomorrow off? I'd like to take a personal day, and before you say _anything_, it's none of your business."_

_As Reno walked off, Rufus slammed the door shut and forced him against the wall, making him face Rufus as he took this chance to look him up and down- and saw that he was truly in great shape…a nice, thin and curvy body, lean yet toned legs that carried him well along with fiery crimson locks that were begging to have Rufus run his fingers through them and blue-green eyes that told him to keep his distance, but he would have none of that- not from this beautiful creature._

"_I can't authorize that until you give me a valid reason why…so, start explaining- and I want the truth, Reno."_

_As Reno stared up at his boss, he saw that up close he was truly handsome- messy blonde hair, bright blue eyes and pale skin that looked as smooth as silk…and he was so lost in checking out his boss, he'd almost forgotten that he hated this man…but since Reno saw no other way out of his predicament, he thought he could at least tell him why he wanted to stay away from him tomorrow._

"_(sighs) Because, it's my sister's birthday…it's also the day that our parents abandoned us and left us all alone. Now that I've told you, will you please get off of me?!"_

_As Rufus realized that it _was_, indeed, a personal day for him he decided to let him have this one day to himself and his sister…for now._

"_Alright, Mr. Sinclaire- I'll authorize this just once, but after that I expect you to work hard to make up for it…now, go home and I'll see you in 2 days." As Rufus walked off, Reno just couldn't figure him out at all but decided not to dwell on it as he grabbed his jacket and headed home for the night._

"So, you let him have that day off?"

"Yes, if I was going to have him as my bride the least I could do was respect his reasons for wanting something that badly…anyway, more time passed and before I knew it 4 years had gone by and I knew that I couldn't live without him, but I didn't even realize at the time that he felt the same until something occurred that would throw both our hearts out into the open…"

"What happened?"

"An old girlfriend of mine, Regina, showed up and proclaimed her love for me and asked me to be her husband."

"Really? How did Reno take it?"

"Well…"

(4 years later, Reno: age 20, Reina: age 14)

_As Reno walked into the Shinra complex, he was really happy today because his sister had graduated to the next level in her middle school education…and for some reason, he was looking forward to seeing Rufus- ever since he'd told Reno that he thought he was beautiful his mind and his heart were both confused as to why Rufus had said that to him…and as he stepped into the elevator and pressed the 7__th__ floor button to go to Rufus' office, his mind was trying to make sense of his boss' change in attitude towards him._

_As he stepped out of the elevator, he saw a woman with long black hair head off towards Rufus' office and decided to follow her…whoever she was, she knew her way around the building- perhaps she was a regular visitor? If she was, then how come Reno hadn't seen her before today?_

_As Reno quietly hugged the wall outside the office door, he heard Rufus and that woman talking- Rufus sounded angry with her, and she sounded desperate…or maybe sad, but why? So he decided to listen in and peeked inside to see him with an annoyed look on his face aimed at the woman._

"_I've told you before, Regina- it's over between us, and I don't want you coming in here anymore like you own the place…that's _my_ job."_

'Regina? Just who _is_ this woman, and _how_ do they know each other?'

"_But Rufus, I swear I've changed- I've become the kind of woman who can stand beside you now, for all eternity…I love you so much, Rufus Shinra…" at hearing her proclamation, Reno felt his chest clench as he saw her get down on one knee and pulled out an expensive-looking diamond ring._

"_Rufus, will you marry me?"_

_Reno got up and stormed away quietly, not even hearing what Rufus had told her- his heart already in pieces although he didn't know why._

"_No, Regina- I can't marry you, because I already have someone I wish to spend my life with…"_

_At hearing him say this, she got up in a rage and demanded to know who it was immediately._

"_Who is she?! And where is she!?"_

"_First of all, _she_ is actually one of my employees- secondly, _his_ name is Reno Sinclaire and I'll not have you insult him. Tseng, would you please come here and escort Miss Regina out of my sight?"_

_As Tseng appeared through the door on the right side of the room, he grabbed Regina by her upper arm and pulled her out of the room as she started fuming and demanding to be let go. As he watched her be forced out, he called Rude into the room next._

"_Rude, would you please send for Reno? I'd like to talk with him."_

"_Of course, Mr. Shinra."_

_As Rufus watched Rude leave, he waited patiently for 3 hours until Rude showed up in his office again…alone._

"_I'm sorry sir, he's not anywhere in the entire building…I searched everywhere, but I couldn't find him. I apologize, Mr. Shinra."_

_When Rufus heard Rude say that Reno wasn't anywhere in the building, he started to get worried- what could have happened to him?_

_As he was going to respond, he heard Tseng come into the room and saw him point to a monitor on the upper left that showed it was from 3 hours ago: it was the one outside his office door. If there was one thing Rufus had learned, it was that keeping a set of eyes outside your door was better than being in the dark of the unknown._

"_Tseng, replay that recording from 3 hours ago on that monitor- full audio, please."_

"_Yes, Sir."_

_As Tseng hit the rewind button, then play he saw that Reno was right outside the door and had heard everything up until he told Regina that he wasn't going to marry her at all, and stood up from his seat._

"_Tseng, did you happen to see where Reno went?"_

_As Tseng recalled Reno's sad face and his heartbroken dash out of the building, he remembered that he had seen him heading back to what he assumed to be his house._

"_I believe I saw him go home…you might want to try there sir."_

"_Good, fire up the car- I've got a house call to make."_

"_Yes, Sir."_

_As the three of them left the office, Rufus saw that the ring Regina had dropped was still there, so he decided to take it for himself and for Reno as they headed downstairs and Rufus decided to make things right by his beloved._

(Reno and Reina's house, 2:30 p.m.)

_As Reina sat there comforting her brother, he told her how he'd fallen in love with his cold-hearted boss and how he'd had his heart broken without even being told why as she held him in her arms in his bed. She'd gotten out of school early due to the preparations of her school festival, and had come home to find Reno hugging a pillow and crying his eyes out. When she opened the door, he ran upstairs and she'd followed him- which led to their positions right now as she heard a doorbell ring and told Reno she'd be right back._

_As she came down the stairs, she looked through the eye hole and saw three men outside her door as she opened it to talk to them._

"_Yes?"_

"_Hello, Miss. I am Rufus Shinra and these are my associates Tseng and Rude…is Reno home?"_

"_What do you want with my brother? He's very upset right now. But, I suppose you could come in…I'll make the tea."_

_As they came inside, Rufus could tell that this girl was indeed a mirror twin of Reno- they looked so much alike it was freaky._

"_The tea is setting, so while it simmers tell me what you want with my brother Reno…and make it quick- depending on your answer I may have to take drastic measures to ensure his happiness."_

_As Rude and Tseng visibly paled at her threat, Rufus could see why Reno acted the way he did- they only had each other for role models growing up…and he decided to get right to the point of why he was here._

"_Firstly, I came to apologize to Reno."_

"_For what?"_

"_Because, the woman he heard ask me for my hand was an old crush that I'd cut loose years ago…I also came to set things right between us."_

"_So, you're the one he came home crying his eyes out over…I honestly don't understand what he sees in you, Mr. Shinra- but if you truly care for him then I have no choice."_

_As Rufus was prepared for the girls' anger, she walked towards the staircase and he had to cover his ears for what happened next._

"_RENO! Get down here! Your boss wants to see you!"_

"_Tell him to go away! I don't want to talk to him!"_

"_Reno, get your stupid ass down here right now or I'll run off and get married to a guy you've never met in your life!"_

_As Rufus watched this scene unfold, he could see now just why Reno was always on edge…his sister was quite the handful!_

"_In 3..2..1.."_

_As Reno came running down the stairs in a panic thinking that Reina really _would_ do as she said she would, Rufus could see that he was a mess- he had messy hair with blood-shot eyes that were puffy and dry from what he guessed was a lot of crying…and moved to talk to him and clear it all up._

"_Reno, listen-"_

"_NO! I have nothing to listen to from you! Why don't you and that woman go on your honeymoon already and leave me alone!?" Reno shouted as he broke down and started sobbing in front of everyone in the room._

"_Listen to me, dammit! It's not what you think Reno…that woman was a _former_ crush of mine, and I'd known her long before I met you. She left me a long time ago and it caused me to think of my life and where I stand on matters of love…and it took me four years to realize that my heart belongs only to one person in my life." Rufus then stepped forward as he reached down and wiped away Reno's tears and gently grasped his chin so he could look him straight in the eyes._

"_Reno Sinclaire, I wouldn't be here right now if I wanted anyone other than you…I love you, with all that I am- body, heart, mind, and soul. I am so very much in love with you Reno that I have something important to ask you…"_

_And sure enough, Rufus took out the ring that Regina had dropped, got down on one knee as he gently grasped Reno's hand in his own and looked straight up at him. "Reno Sinclaire, will you make me the happiest man on this entire planet and marry me?"_

_As Reno stared at Rufus, a million things were running through his mind at the moment- it all felt so surreal, but he knew where his heart lied…it was by the side of the man asking him for his hand in eternal bonding._

"…_.Y-yes, Rufus Shinra…I forgive you, and I _will_ marry you!"_

_As Rufus slipped the ring on Reno's finger, he stood up with a smile on his face and embraced him as he also leaned down and kissed him full on the lips. All Reno could hear and feel at the moment was the sound of his sister's cheering and the undeniable love in his heart for his husband._

"And then a year after that, we got married and have spent 5 years together since then…So, does that answer your question Sora?"

As Sora waited for Rufus to finish, he then felt a smile appear on his face as he'd realized that Rufus and Reno's marriage was beautiful…and answered Rufus' question.

"Yeah, it was wonderful…I only hope that my and Vincent's love life is just as wonderful as yours."

"Sora, it's time to go- grab your bag, let's head home."

When Sora heard his dad shout up to him, he realized that Rufus' recollection had taken at least an hour and a half, so he told Rufus "I gotta go, so I'll call you when I get home. Bye for now."

"Goodbye for now, Sora- and good luck with everything at home." And the two of them hung up as Sora grabbed his bag and headed down the stairs to head back home.

(Downstairs lobby, 10:00 a.m.)

As Sora came down the stairs, he saw his father and Vincent standing there looking at him. He set down his bag and hugged Vincent as he kissed him goodbye and promised he would wait for him in Radiant Garden…then walked out the door with his dad as Vincent watched Sora get on the back of Fenrir while Cloud started it up and then took off as he watched his lover speed off, weeping silently as he stood in the room alone.

T.B.C.- Well, what will happen next? Read and find out!


	14. Mama Don't Preach (lol)

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Wow, already Ch.14? Time sure flies when you're having fun doing what you love, and I sure love doing this! Anyway, how's Sora gonna tell his mom and friends that he's pregnant- and that he plans to keep the kid? Also, Kairi has a secret to reveal…also, this will be a song chapter feat. Madonna's song 'Papa Don't Preach', which I love so much…but, it will be tweaked a bit so just read on to find out.

**Ch.14- Mama Don't Preach (lol)**

As Sora felt the wind whip past his face, he looked up to see Riku speed past on his dad's bike named 'Jenova' with Saix right behind him on the seat…and looked down as he thought of how those two could _possibly_ be together…and then thought of how he'd break the news of his pregnancy to his mom, as well as his friends and brother- he was also going to have to tell her he was keeping the baby.

(6 hours later, 4:00 p.m.- Sora's House)

While Cloud wheeled the bike into the garage, Sora grabbed his bag and violin case then headed inside to greet his family.

'_Mama I know you're going to be upset  
'Cause I was always your little boy  
But you should know by now  
I'm not a baby'_

"Sora, welcome home honey! How was your trip to Nibelheim?"

Aerith said as she hugged her son with slightly wet hands- she was doing dishes when he came in.

"It was…good."

"Sora, is something wrong? You don't seem yourself dear…why don't you tell me?"

As she looked at him, Sora nearly broke down and cried right there as she stared at him with a saddened, motherly look.

"You may want to sit down for this…"

'_You always taught me right from wrong  
I need your help, mama please be strong  
I may be young at heart  
But I know what I'm saying'_

'The one you warned me all about  
The one you said I could do without  
We're in an awful mess, and I don't mean maybe – please'

As Aerith let Sora lead her to the couch, he looked down at her with a look of absolute dread on his face. "Mom, I'm…p-pregnant, and I'm keeping the baby."

As Aerith heard her son tell her that he was pregnant, she about broke down and cried herself…how could her baby be pregnant?

"How did it happen?!"

"Well…"

(2 hours later, 6:00 p.m.)

As Sora finished telling her everything, including how he had found a lover who treated him like a precious jewel, she pulled him close and held him tight.

"Oh Sora, I'm so sorry honey…I'm glad you can be so strong after all that's happened, but are you sure you want to keep a child that came about from an awful thing like rape?"

"Yes, I don't want to kill an unborn life…it wouldn't be right."

As Aerith stared at her son, she heard Roxas come down stairs and embrace his brother in a hug and heard "Welcome back, bro…how was everything?"

After Sora told Roxas and Axel, who had come over to see him, they were both upset and angry at what had happened…Roxas then started crying for Sora and his child.

"I'm so sorry, Sora- I wish I could've been there to help you through all that, but I was stuck here worrying about my own problems!"

As Sora held his twin close, he wondered just what it was that Roxas dealt with while he was gone on that trip.

"What do you mean, Roxas? Does it have to do with Axel?"

At hearing his name, Axel turned away and started fuming. "No, it's that damn Seifer! He just doesn't get that no means no!"

At Sora's questioning look, Roxas decided to explain. "While you were away, Seifer kept asking about you and Axel kept having to tell him that you just weren't interested in going out with him…but, he's persistent- he kept at it the whole time you were out of school, it gets irritating after a while."

"I can only imagine so…he _is_ pretty pushy and persistent, isn't he? Anything else happen while I was away?"

"Well, the teachers have decided to just give you the final exams before the end of our senior year…also, your boss is worried about you- he says the customers miss you and want you to come back to serve them the sea salt ice cream they love from you."

At hearing that everyone was worried and missed him, Sora couldn't help but smile and realized that he had something to do.

"I have to call someone real quick."

"Kairi?"

"No, Rufus…I told him I'd give him the house address so he can have my medicine delivered here without any sort of mix-ups."

"Who's Rufus?"

"My doctor."

As Sora dialed the number, Rufus picked up after two rings and Sora told him the address and then hung up after a few minutes. Then, he texted someone whose number Roxas didn't recognize.

"Sora, who'd you text just now?"

"Vincent, I asked him when he would be coming to Radiant Garden."

"Who's Vincent?"

"You'll meet him soon enough…oh, I got a reply from him! He said he'll see me on my graduation day! I can't wait to see him again!"

At seeing his brother so happy, Roxas couldn't help but wonder just who this guy was…but he figured he couldn't be all bad if Sora was so happy just texting him, but he also realized that he hadn't told Sora about Kairi's secret yet…but he'd let him know soon enough, it was getting late and they had classes in the morning.

"Sora, it's getting late- let's get some rest, especially you. You've been through a lot, I imagine."

As Sora looked at the clock, he saw it was already 9:00- which was pretty late, considering their classes started at 8:00 tomorrow.

"Alright…mom, I'm going to bed, I'll see you in the morning."

"Alright you two, good night. Axel, would you like the couch? Or maybe I could blow up the air mattress?"

"Nah, it's ok- I'll take the couch, thank you for asking though."

"Alright, well I hope you sleep well- and I'm glad that Roxas is getting married to you, you're a great man and I know you'll treat him right. Good night, Axel dear." Aerith then leaned forward and kissed Axel on his left temple, showing that she was happy to call him her son-in-law.

"It's ok, and thank you mom."

(Upstairs in Sora's room, 9:05 p.m.)

"So, what's Axel doing here anyway? Not that I'm not happy to see him, but why is he here anyway?"

As Roxas fidgeted nervously, he knew Sora would either find out on his own or keep asking until he told him. "Well, while you were away Axel proposed to me and we got engaged…we're getting married after I graduate from my first college year."

As Sora took this in, he almost dropped his night shirt…then he smiled at his brother, he was truly happy for him.

"Wow, that's great- I know you mean the world to Axel, and he'll never ever hurt you in any way."

As the two of them talked about it for a few more minutes, they said goodnight as Roxas went to his room and Sora crawled under the sheets of his bed as he cried himself to sleep for what had happened to him because of Chisato.

(Morning, 6:00 a.m.)

As Sora sat up in his bed, he stretched his back and got up to start his day with a shower and fresh clothes. He grabbed his school uniform and set it on the counter as he started the water on warm and attempted to return to a normal life.

(20 minutes later, 6:20 a.m.)

After brushing his teeth and hair, Sora buttoned up his white uniform shirt and ditched the jacket…it was too warm to wear it anyway, then grabbed his sneakers and red and black tie as he headed down stairs.

(Downstairs, 6:30 a.m.)

As Sora took his place at the table, he saw Roxas and Axel sitting next to each other as their father took his place next to an empty chair which was where his mom sat after she had finished setting the food on the table…for some reason, Sora wasn't hungry at all- but he tried eating something, if not for himself but his child who would be born in 9 months…9 grueling, emotional, draining months.

"So, Sora," said Aerith "how are you feeling this morning?"

"I'm fine, mom. I'm just gonna leave early, I don't feel very hungry this morning…I'm sorry."

As Sora put his plate in the kitchen sink to soak, he grabbed his bag and slipped his shoes on as he headed out the door.

As Cloud watched his son leave, he felt depressed over Sora's situation- it wasn't easy dealing with a less-than-perfect school life, a dead end job, and a pregnancy on top of it all…he just wished that things would get better for Sora and soon.

(Radiant Garden High, 7:00 a.m.)

As Sora stared up at the dreary building before him, he moved out of the way just as a rock was thrown his way and saw that two girls were fighting again over something completely stupid like a boyfriend. While he made his way up the steps, Waka and Lulu were holding hands and chatting happily as he saw Riku walk off with Saix into the boys' room- possibly to have some 'fun' before class began.

As he kept walking, he saw that Kairi was on the phone with someone- she was smiling and giggling so he decided to see what had her feeling so happy.

"…Yeah, love you too- I gotta go, talk to ya later."

"Hey, Kairi."

"Hey Sora! (hugs) I missed you, so how was your trip?"

"Actually, I have to tell you about that…I'll try to shorten it for you, ok?"

"Ok, did something happen?"

After he had summed it all up in about 25 minutes, Kairi was shocked when she learned of all this, plus the fact that Sora was pregnant was a wake-up call for her too. "Wow, that's quite a lot to take in…so, when do we get to meet this Vincent Valentine guy you're so in love with?"

"He'll be here on my graduation day."

"That's only a week away, right?"

"Yeah, it is…by the way, who were you chatting with on the phone?"

"Well, it was my boyfriend."

"Really? Well who is it?"

"Well…about that…it's-"

"Sora?"

As Sora turned at hearing his name, he saw Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo standing there looking at him like he was just a mirage.

"Hey guys, sorry I forgot to mention that I'm back…but here I am."

"Well, how are you? You seem different somehow, why don't you tell us?" said Yazoo as he stared at his younger cousin with a concerned look in his eyes.

"I'll tell you guys at lunch, we've got class coming up. We'll meet in the usual garden spot, ok?"

As they heard the first bell ring, they parted and went to class until their rendezvous time: lunch.

(Inner Garden, lunch- 12:00 p.m.)

As Sora sat in a group with his friends, they were all waiting to ask him questions about all that happened…all except Kairi.

Kadaj decided he'd ask first and break the silence between them all.

"So tell us Sora, what all happened while you were away?"

"Well…" and Sora told them everything that had occurred, including the fact that he was pregnant- which shocked the hell out of all of them, including Loz, who was crying by now and hugging Kairi tightly as she comforted him. All this took Sora about 25 minutes to tell them, and was by now curious about what Kairi said she had to tell them...and why Loz was sticking to her like a child who'd just lost his mom to some horrible accident.

"So Kairi, you never did tell me who your boyfriend is."

"Oh yea, that's right…Sora, Loz is my boyfriend- we've been together for a year, but kept it secret because we didn't want everyone to know just yet. I'm sorry for not mentioning it to you guys."

As everyone let it process, Yazoo spoke up next. "Also, Kadaj and I have decided to hook up- and now we have too many fangirls because of it!"

As Sora stared at all his friends and family, he almost fainted- not just from the information but fatigue as well from the baby growing inside of him.

"Well well, if it isn't Sora Strife…how _are_ you?" said an all too familiar voice as Sora turned around to see Seifer and his little posse standing there in the garden.

"Not now, Seifer- I have enough to deal with when _you're_ not around trailing after me like a lost puppy."

As Seifer let Sora run his mouth off, he stepped forward past his friends, who were being held back by Seifer's little followers as he grabbed him harshly by the neck and glared at him with cold, steel-gray eyes that exuded dominance and superiority as he spoke to him in a commanding tone that had him paling from just the sound of it.

"You listen here, I _will _have you as mine…you belong to me from this day forward, and _nothing_ will stand in my way of keeping you…understood?!"

As Sora struggled in Seifer's rough and painful grip, he saw a knife blade press up against Seifer's neck and two seconds later the older blonde was being held against the wall by none other than Saix.

"That's quite enough out of you, Seifer- don't you and your little suck ups have somewhere to be? Now get lost, before I send you to your oblivion."

As Seifer paled at the intensity in Saix's stare, he pushed himself off the wall and the older bluenette away and said to Sora "This isn't over yet, Sora- you _will_ be mine!" Sora narrowed his eyes as he watched Seifer storm off while Saix put his butterfly knife away as he walked up to him and checked him for any injuries, a sigh of relief when none were found as an apologetic look passed over his features followed by a gentle smile. "I'm sorry he hassled you like that, are you alright?"

"Why did you help me, Saix?"

"For 2 reasons- first of all, Riku still cares for you even though he's my lover now and secondly you showed what it means to have a heart to bear…and every emotion that comes with it…I thank you for that."

As Sora stood there, he realized that Saix had to have _some_ kind of heart to care for Riku...and realized that even though he had tried to kill him so long ago, Saix had proven that he could actually manage feeling what a heart does.

"You're welcome, Saix...so, where is Riku anyway?"

"He's getting some help from his social studies teacher on today's assignment. Perhaps you could also give him a hand? I'm sure that he'd appreciate that."

"Well, I guess I could-"

Before the brunette could finish his sentence, Hayner came running up to the group and stopped in front of Sora, panting with his hands on his knees. Everyone knew that Hayner was one of Roxas' best friends, the boy was almost like a brother to the twins.

"Hayner, what are you doing here?"

"Because Sora, (panting) there's someone who wants to see you…(panting dies down somewhat) a guy from some big, important music school...said his name was Zack or something. He wants to talk to _you_, Sora...so the principal sent me to get you, come on."

As Sora stood there, he looked at his friends then at Saix and finally back to Hayner- unsure if he should actually go see this Zack guy or skip out early and play it off as morning sickness...which, by the way, had gotten even worse since he came back home. As he was just standing there, Kairi placed her hand on his shoulder and said "Go on Sora, you may not get another opportunity like this again...at least go and see what he has to say, alright?"

"Ok, Kairi...I guess you're right, I may not get another chance like this-"

"Great, let's go!" Hayner said as he grinned his million-watt grin and dragged Sora away from his friends and to the principal's office.

(Principal's office, 12: 30 p.m.)

As Sephiroth sat in his chair (he's the principal...so Riku+his dad as principal= principal's pet, lol), he heard a knock at the door and said "Come in" as Hayner opened the door with Sora in tow, Sora looking around the spacious and clean office as Sephiroth cleared his throat and Sora looked straight back at him. "Hayner, thank you for bringing Sora to my office- you can go off to class now, tell the teacher you were in my office and I'm sure he'll let you into his class."

As Hayner left, Sora stood all alone in the room with just Sephiroth and another man- he looked to be about his dad's height, was wearing a dark-grey business suit with a blue tie, had spiked back jet black hair and dark brown eyes as Sephiroth looked at Sora and motioned for him to stand in front of his desk.

"Sora, I'm sure you're curious as to why exactly I've called you in here...This (points to man next to Sora) is Zack Fair, he's the head of the Radiant Garden Music Academy for Rising Stars. He's come all the way here to speak with you."

As Sora stood in front of Sephiroth's desk and turned to greet him, he noticed that he was barely even chest height on this man as Zack's smile reassured Sora that he was a kind and honest man as he held out his hand and Sora shook it. "Hello Sora, I'm Zack Fair- it's so good to finally meet you. I watched your solo piece from this year's concert when you single handedly played '_My Sanctuary'_, one of the most difficult songs out there- even some of my more promising students have a hard time playing it, but that's not the reason why I'm here. I'm here because I want to invite you to become a student at our prestigious Academy...here's a brochure of our facility, as well as our office number- just page me when you've made your choice, and I'll be happy to tell you more...it was nice meeting you, Sora. Goodbye for now."

While Sora watched him leave, Sephiroth cleared his throat and the brunette turned to look at the father of one of his best friends.

"You know Sora, Zack runs the most prestigious music school in all of Radiant Garden- it's not every day that he comes and offers one of _our_ students a chance to come and hone their skills under their tutelage…if I were you, I would give this some serious consideration and thought before you make your choice. Now go and get to class, tell your teacher that I was talking with you."

"Alright, sir…I'll get going now." Sephiroth watched as Sora left, thinking that he looked rather…sad, like he'd just lost his best friend.

As Sora made his way to class, he felt the sudden urge to puke and ran straight to the boys' room as he emptied his stomach of what he'd eaten beforehand…he also wondered how long this would last as he kept puking until he had nothing coming up but acid, then washed his hands and swished his mouth out with water as he made his way to class.

While Sora sat in his desk, he looked at the brochure Zack had given him and saw the entire campus looked nice but on his paycheck there was no way he could even _afford_ admission there…he only hoped that tomorrow was better as the last bell of the day rang and Sora made his way home alone.

The rest of the week felt so long, Sora didn't even notice until Friday that a house had been bought out by a new neighbor…most likely his mom would want him to make friends with their kids, if they had any…all he knew was that today was his last day of high school, he couldn't wait to go into college and start making more on his dead-end paycheck.

(Graduation Ceremony, 1:00 p.m.)

As Sora stood next to his brother on stage, he couldn't believe that it was over and done with- he was graduating with honors and a music scholarship so he could pretty much pursue a music career if he wanted…he saw his parents in the crowd looking at him and Roxas with smiles of pride and happiness, he also saw his boss Squall had shown up too…as did Axel, Sephiroth, and Tifa…but, he didn't see the one person he wanted to see more than anyone in the whole world: Vincent.

As their names were all called up to get their diplomas and scholarship certificates, Sora had shown his parents the brochure that Zack had given him and they had both encouraged him to go…since he had a scholarship, he could get into the school without having to shell out the $20,000 admission fee. As Sora walked off the stage, his mom hugged him and his dad also hugged him as he saw a car pull up and out stepped Rufus, Reno, Rude, Yuffie, Red XIII, Tseng, and Vincent- each of them came up to him and offered their congratulations, but Vincent kissed Sora in front of everyone- he didn't care who was watching, and told Sora he had a surprise for him.

"I was starting to think you wouldn't show up…you had me worried Vincent."

As Vincent looked at Sora, he smiled and ruffled his hair in his hand. "What, and miss your graduation? I wouldn't even dream of it…though maybe you should introduce me to your friends, they're staring at me."

As Sora turned and looked at his friends, he saw that they were indeed staring at them so he decided to just go with it. "Guys, this is Vincent Valentine…my lover, and the one who's going to help me raise our child."

As they all looked between each other and the two of them, they all had mixed opinions but they knew that Vincent would take care of Sora as he took Sora by the wrist and pulled him into the passenger side of the car and drove off to show Sora his 'surprise'.

After a 20 minute car ride, Vincent stopped and turned the car off and made his way over to Sora's side and opened the door for him. "Now then, close your eyes and follow me…and don't open them until I tell you to, ok?"

"(sighs) Alright, Vincent- but this better be worth being dragged away from my friends and parents."

"Trust me, it is…now follow me, and keep those peepers closed until I say so."

As Vincent led Sora up an incline, he couldn't help the smile on his face as he felt around for the small box in his pocket as they finally reached their destination as he stood behind Sora, grabbing his shoulders gently and said "Ok, open your eyes now."

As Sora opened his eyes, he saw a house- and not just any house, it was the same one he saw today. "Vincent, is this-"

"Yes Sora, it's _our_ house now…although it can't be ours until I have an answer to this question. (gets down on one knee and pulls out diamond ring) Sora Strife…will you marry me, and become Sora Valentine?"

As Sora stared down at the man who held his very heart in his soul, he was overcome with sheer joy and happiness at this exact moment and said "Yes, I will marry you Vincent…I couldn't ever say no to this!"

At that moment, Vincent slid the ring on Sora's finger and saw that it was rose gold with a diamond in the middle, a ruby on the left and a sapphire on the right…in short, it was the most beautiful ring he'd ever seen in his whole life. "The diamond represents our love and how pure it is after the ruby and sapphire come together…just like our lives from this point on."

"You're right, Vincent- this is _our_ life together…you, me, and our child- just the three of us in a lovely house with a beautiful future together." And from that day forward, Vincent and Sora worked to build a life that was shared together.

T.B.C.- Finally, Vincent and Sora are going to get married! I'll reveal other pairings' futures together as the story progresses until it can't go any further! Read and review, plz? Thank u! ^v^!


	15. Where Do We Go From Here?

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Already Ch.15, eh? That's great news! I can't believe it's reached this point in time- and all that's left is to wrap it up nice and sweet with Sora having the baby and the future of the other pairings also being revealed…also, Reina and Demyx will be coming along for the ride so sit back and relax as I continue to entertain you hopeless masses! Just kidding, enjoy!

**Ch.15- Where Do We Go From Here?**

As Sora helped Vincent bring in the furniture that he had come with him from his old house, they were both very careful not to drop anything on any feet or toes. After 4 hours, everything was in the house and tomorrow they'd unpack things and arrange them however they wanted.

As Sora ordered takeout for dinner, Vincent had finished setting up the TV so they could at least do something while they waited the 30 minutes it would take for the food to arrive.

"So Vincent, do you have an idea of what kind of job you'll get while I'm in school?"

"Actually yes, I secured a position at the nearby Shinra Power Shipment Plant…on Monday I'll be going in to put power components into shipping packages, it's not much of a job, but it'll have to do until the baby's born and we're both working."

"Yeah, you're right…by the way, on Monday I start my first class at the Radiant Garden Music Academy. The head of the school, Zack, said he liked my solo performance last year and offered me a scholarship to attend the school."

As Vincent took this in, he couldn't help but pull Sora into a hug and said "Congratulations, I always knew that you'd amount to great things. I'll be supporting you the whole way, Sora- do your best!"

As dinner arrived, Sora paid for it with some money he had left over after he'd bought Kairi a birthday present from earlier that week, the two of them ate dinner then went to bed together, Sora smiling at how much his life had changed in all this time- he had a baby on the way, and he was engaged to the love of his entire existence…for Sora, things could only get better.

The weekend passed by fairly quickly as Sora and Vincent had spent all of Saturday and part of Sunday unpacking and arranging their house until everything was set up the way they wanted it…Sora even had a music room where he could practice for upcoming solo performances. It was finally 6:00 when everything was all set up, and Sora had just finished writing a piece for his first school performance that he couldn't wait to play.

"Sora, dinner's ready!" called Vincent as Sora put his violin in the glass display case and locked it as he then pocketed the key as he made his way to the dinner table and they ate together in comfortable silence.

(Monday morning, 6:00 a.m.)

As Sora got up and went to shower, Vincent also got up after Sora went to shower and brushed his hair that he'd had cut so it only rested on his shoulders as he heard the water shut off after 10 minutes and was, by now, fully dressed in his uniform- a white jacket, dark-blue shirt and black slacks with black shoes as Sora also stood in his uniform while brushing his unruly hair and holding his violin case in the other hand.

"Hey, you got your hair cut…it looks nice, I like it. So, ready for work I see."

"And I see you're ready for school- I wish you luck, my dearest."

As they shared a quick kiss, Sora grabbed a slice of toast and headed off to school for the next however many years until his graduation and was about to walk to school when he saw a blue Honda Civic pull up into his driveway as a familiar girl stepped out and said "Hey, need a lift?"

"Reina, what are you doing here?"

"We heard that Vincent had left and so we found a place to live right by you guys! Pretty cool, huh? Demyx and I were on our way to the Music Academy, and I see you were too."

"Wait a second- I know _Demyx_ plays an instrument, but _you_? I never even saw you pick one up, let alone play one."

"There's a lot you don't know about me Sora- like how Demyx and I are getting married next year, and how we got in thanks to Reno and Rufus paying the entry fee for us both…so, I'll ask again- need a lift?"

As Sora resisted the urge to slap himself for not knowing any of this beforehand, he got in the back of the car as Reina put the car into drive and sped off as the brunette saw Vincent hop into his red Kia Spectra and drive off into the opposite direction, hoping this school would be better than his last one as he clutched his violin case close to his chest.

(Radiant Garden Music Academy, 7:00 a.m.)

When Reina pulled into a parking space, she pulled out an instrument case as Demyx grabbed his sitar case and helped Sora out of the back along with his violin case. Sora couldn't eat much these days because of the baby and looked rather frail as the three of them made their way to registration as other new students filed in behind them.

(40 minutes later, 7:40 a.m.)

Sora, Reina and Demyx all made their way to the same classroom and took their seats next to each other as their teacher, whose name was written on the board, turned to them and she said "Good Morning, class…I am Miss Yuna, and I am your instructor- I'd like to begin by having each of you come up here and tell me a bit about your instrument and why you chose that particular one. Now, let's see- we'll start with…"

As she called names off the list, Reina went next…they saw that she had a flute and said why she had that one as her choice. Then after her some girl named Paine who had a guitar, then a girl named Rikku who used a cello, then Demyx and his sitar and finally Sora and his violin were up next.

"Alright, Sora- why a violin?"

"Because, it was a gift from my dad and I've used it for a long time- it's a part of my very existential being…do you want me to play a piece?"

"Sure, everyone watch and listen- you may just learn something. Sora, whenever you're ready you may begin."

As Sora pulled out the violin, they saw that it was really well taken care of…and then Sora began strumming out a song he'd written himself called 'The Lonely' (I don't own the song or lyrics, or any lyrics to any other song I've used thus far- so shut up with the hate comments!)

' _2am; where do I begin?__  
__Crying off my face again.__  
__The silent sound of loneliness__  
__Wants to follow me to bed.'___

_'I'm a ghost of a girl that I want to be most,__  
__I'm the shell of a girl that I used to know well.'___

_'Dancing slowly in an empty room,__  
__Can the lonely take the place of you?__  
__I sing myself a quiet lullaby,__  
__Let you go and let the lonely in,__  
__To take my heart again.'___

_'Too afraid to go inside__  
__For the pain of one more loveless night.__  
__But the loneliness will stay with me__  
__And hold me til I fall asleep.'___

_'I'm a ghost of a girl that I want to be most,__  
__I'm the shell of a girl that I used to know well.'___

_'Dancing slowly in an empty room,__  
__Can the lonely take the place of you?__  
__I sing myself a quiet lullaby,__  
__Let you go and let the lonely in,__  
__To take my heart again.'___

_'Broken pieces of__  
__A barely breathing story.__  
__Where there once was love,__  
__Now there's only me and the lonely.'___

_'Dancing slowly in an empty room,__  
__Can the lonely take the place of you?__  
__I sing myself a quiet lullaby,__  
__Let you go and let the lonely in,__  
__To take my heart again.'_

As the song came to an end while the last notes held and then faded, the teacher was in complete admiration of Sora's playing skill. "Thank you, that was very well played Sora. You can take your seat now. Up next, we have…"

As the class wore on, Sora felt like he was going to be sick but he managed to hold it down for the rest of the class and hopefully the rest of the day.

As the day passed on, Sora felt like he would sincerely enjoy his time here with the friends he'd made here as he got into Reina's car along with Demyx and they headed home for the day.

(Sora and Vincent's House, 3:30 p.m.)

As Sora stepped out of the car, he saw Vincent had not gotten home yet. Thinking he was still at work, Sora wobbled as best he could to the front door and fished his keys out of his jacket pocket and walked inside to get ready for work.

(20 minutes later, 3:50 p.m.)

As Reina waited for Sora to walk out the door, she held her flute case in her arms as she remembered when Demyx had gotten it for her when Sora got in the back seat wearing his work clothes: a black halter top, dark-blue capris, a black apron that stopped below his shirt and yellow-white sneakers with a blue bandana tying down his hair as she made her way to the ice cream shop where he worked.

When they arrived, Sora thanked Reina with a hug and headed off to work.

(10 hours later, 1:50 a.m.)

As Sora finished up the late night shift, he almost collapsed at how exhausted he was from not being back at work in so long…not to mention the baby developing in his belly, but he shrugged it off as he called Reina and asked her to come get him and didn't have to wait long as she pulled up and drove him home.

When he got home, Sora was surprised to find the lights on in the house…that meant that Vincent was home and waiting for him, but for what reason Sora didn't know as he opened the door and stepped inside only to collapse on the floor in the entry way as he heard Vincent's panicked voice call out his name. "Sora, are you alright?! Tell me what's wrong!"

As Sora drifted into unconsciousness, Vincent called Rufus and told him of what had happened. Rufus told him that Sora had overworked himself with school, his job and worrying about the baby…he suggested that Sora spend all day tomorrow relaxing and getting some sleep then bid Vincent goodnight as they both hung up. Vincent carried Sora to their bedroom and laid him down in the bed as Vincent got into his pajamas then lay in bed with his fiancé.

(Next morning, 6:00 a.m.)

As Sora woke up feeling completely wiped out, he saw Vincent come into the room with a tray that had some food on it for him along with medicine and a glass of water. "Good morning, Sora. How do you feel?"

"Exhausted, but why'd you bring all this in here? I have school in an hour."

"You collapsed last night and Rufus said for you to spend the whole day getting some rest…I don't want you killing yourself like this, Sora- I'll go to work, you will stay here and rest the whole day…I told Squall that you needed the time off and he said that he was ok with it…same thing with the school, so rest up- I'll see you tonight." Vincent said as he kissed Sora on the forehead then left to go to work as the brunette sat in bed and decided that since he was stuck in bed he may as well eat and hoped to Jenova that the next few months would get better.

(5 months later, hospital waiting room- 2:45 p.m.)

As Sora sat in the lobby with Vincent holding his hand, Sora moved his hand down and gently stroked his baby bump that had gotten bigger in the months that passed. True, his morning sickness was gone- but now he'd gotten extremely moody as he began humming one of his favorite songs called '_Packaged'_ when a nurse stepped into the lobby and said "Sora Strife, the doctor will see you now. Sir, you'll have to wait out here- only doctors and patients are allowed beyond this point."

"Like hell I'll wait here! That's my fiancé you're talking about, and I won't leave him alone!"

"Vincent (grabs Vincent's hand and squeezes it reassuringly), it's fine- I'll be okay…just be patient and wait, I'll be back before you know it." Sora kissed Vincent on the cheek as he and the nurse left to see the doctor.

(Doctor's room, 2:50 p.m.)

As Sora sat on the bed, the doctor came in with a clipboard and pen. "Hello, Sora. I'm Dr. Quistis, I'll be looking after you today. Why don't you lie down and we'll take a look at your growing fetus?"

As Sora did as he was told, Quistis lifted his shirt and rubbed a warm gel on his belly and turned on the machine next to the bed…he watched as an image appeared on the monitor. "Now then, this is your baby…and it looks like you have twins! A boy and a girl…Congratulations, both children are very healthy and growing normally. By the look of things, they're identical twins, too."

As Sora lay in the bed, he just couldn't believe what he was hearing: twins…not one baby, but two…he almost couldn't contain his excitement, but he did his best not to burst into tears of happiness and shout out to the whole hospital 'I'm having twins!'. He instead settled on just lying there with a smile on his face as he looked over at the monitor again where the picture of his twins was displayed.

"Well, other than a basic checkup, it looks like you're all good to go- just keep up whatever you're doing and they should be here in a few months…by the way, that man out there- is he the father? Because a name came up on the test results for paternity…it said 'Chisato', but you addressed that man as 'Vincent'. Care to explain?"

As Sora let his gaze fall to his lap, he waited a few minutes then looked her straight in the eye and said "The man who fathered these children inside me…it only happened because he raped me! That's the reason I'm even pregnant at all…but I don't hate the children for how they came to be, I hate the man who did this to me! (starts crying)" as he sat there crying, the doctor hugged him close and soothingly whispered to him that everything would be just fine.

"Well, are you ready to go? I'll release you if you're ready."

"(sniffles) Yeah, I'm ready…time to let Vincent know that there's two, not one."

As Sora walked out the door, he saw Vincent sitting in a chair waiting for him with concern in his eyes. "Well Sora, how's the baby- is it alright?!"

"Calm down, Vincent honey- everything's just fine, all three of us are doing just fine."

"Wait a minute- did you say all three of you? What's going on?! (grabs Sora's shoulders gently)"

"Well, it turns out it's twins- but it's still too early to tell whether or not they're 2 boys, 2 girls, or a boy and a girl…we'll just have to wait and see."

At hearing that it was twins, Vincent nearly fainted but Sora was there to make sure he wouldn't hurt himself from excitement as they got in the car and headed home to build a nursery for the arrival of their little ones.

(2 months later, 7 months along)

As the months went by slowly, Sora had developed weird food cravings that almost had Vincent puking at how he just ate them with a smile on his face, not to mention Sora was on maternity leave until the babies were born…Kairi and some of the girls from Sora's school had thrown him a baby shower with gifts, food, and congratulations that were heard all around the room as Vincent stood there smiling at his beloved fiancé and 'mother' of his children.

(8th month)

In the last month before the due date, Sora had gotten moodier than ever and almost threw Vincent through a wall with a Blizzaga spell when he thought Vincent had called him 'fat'…but it was only one more month that Vincent had to sit through, so he made the best of it.

(9th and final month, 6:45 p.m.)

As the due date was fast approaching, Sora and Vincent were sitting on the couch together watching '_Bar Rescue_' on SPIKE tv as Sora started nodding off, Vincent turned the tv off and helped Sora to bed and tucked him in while he made some coffee to keep him awake. The twins could come at any moment, so one of them needed to be awake to call the hospital and alert the paramedics.

(4 hours later, 10:45 p.m.)

While Sora lay in bed sleeping, he felt the need to use the restroom. He got up and went into the bathroom and as he closed the door he puked again for what felt like the hundredth time in 4 hours as he dried his mouth with a towel, he felt and heard water trickle onto the floor followed by an unusually strong and painful contraction and screamed out "VINCENT! Call the doctors, they're coming!"

At hearing Sora's panic-filled voice, Vincent immediately called the hospital and went upstairs to help Sora into the car then made like a speed demon to the hospital where they already had a room waiting for him. As Vincent watched Sora be wheeled away to have the babies, he sat down in a chair and cried.

(6 hours later, 4:45 a.m.)

After what felt like forever with no word from any of the doctors, a nurse came out and tapped Vincent on the shoulder, and he was jolted awake when she said "Mr. Valentine, Sora wants to see you. Will you please follow me?" Vincent nodded as he stood up like a zombie and followed after her as she opened a door and Sora sat in the bed holding the twins in his arms, then called him over quietly to look at them.

"Aren't they beautiful, Vincent? Meet your son- Raiko, and his sister Rika…our wonderful twin gifts…Vincent, are you crying?"

As Vincent stared at Sora and their twins, he didn't even realize that he _was_ crying, but he just played it off with a smile of genuine happiness. Here was his family, safe, secure, and whole.

T.B.C.- The babies are here! What now? Read and find out!


	16. Wedding Bells Ring!

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Finally, Ch.16! It's coming along smoothly, and all that's left is to do Sora and Vincent's wedding! I'm so excited, I could burst…but I'll do that later, also the fates of the other characters in this fic so keep with it for the conclusion and you may be surprised…anyway, on with the chappie!

**Ch.16- Wedding Bells Ring!**

As Sora was discharged from the hospital after 3 days of rest and recovery from the c-section on his stomach to bring the twins into this world, Vincent grabbed Rika's carrier and Sora had Raiko's as they were put in the back seat, both sleeping soundly as Vincent started up the car and took his new family home.

After a long and silent car ride to the house, Raiko chose this time to wake up and cry while Rika slept soundly despite her brother's loud cries. Sora grabbed Raiko's carrier and brought him in while Vincent grabbed Rika and brought her in and attempted to put her clothes on her…he was never good at this sort of thing and tried asking Chaos or Gigas for help…but neither one answered. Maybe after all this time, they decided to go into hibernation and leave their vessel alone to have a normal life like he'd been wanting for years. Vincent only hoped so as the two of them spent the whole day taking care of the babies and by the time it was night, both were too tired to do anything other than cuddle in bed as they knew they were in this for the long haul.

(3 months later)

As Sora and Vincent settled into a routine, they both realized they had jobs to work at…Sora had work _and _school to deal with, so he often called on Kairi to babysit for them. She didn't mind, it gave her something to do while she was looking for work and in a way, she got the chance to play mommy, even if only for a short while.

(3 more months later)

It had already been half a year and the twins were already crawling and developing some sort of personalities as Sora and Vincent were sitting on the couch trying to plan their wedding…Kadaj had become their wedding planner after he and Yazoo had tied the knot only a year after they'd graduated from high school. Right now, they were looking at themes for the wedding…Sora wanted a 'joined hearts' theme whereas Vincent wanted it to take place in a forest setting- they were just about to argue about it _again_ when Sora heard Raiko's crying and got up to see what was wrong this time.

As Vincent watched Sora leave, he started talking to Kadaj again about the wedding theme. "Listen, maybe you could find something in-between both our preferences?"

"Well, I could try…hmm, how about this one? It's very popular with gay weddings all over Radiant Garden, maybe Sora would like it?"

As Vincent looked it over, Sora came back with Raiko in his arms and sat down with their son in his lap as he saw the theme Vincent was looking at this time: it was set in front of a forest shrine but had a giant wicker heart all in white that symbolized the tranquility of the heart of a forest. "Well Sora, what do you think of _this_ one? I think it's perfect."

As Sora looked it over while bouncing Raiko on his knee, he smiled at the compromise that Vincent had reached and said "I like it, nice pick."

As Kadaj looked at his cousin and his family, he smiled thinking of his own family situation. Yazoo had recently given birth to their daughter Chikara, and he got right back to business. "Excellent choice, guys. By the way, when do you want the wedding to take place?"

"We want it to take place on the kids' first birthday; it should be special for _all_ of us, not just the kids." Said Vincent in a matter-of-fact tone of voice that had Sora smiling at his soon-to-be husband.

"Perfect. We'll set it for the 20th of next year, that's when their birthday is, right?"

"Yeah, it is…so, how's Yazoo? I hope he's doing alright."

"Well, he's got PMS so I have to deal with it but other than that he's fine…it's just the stress of raising a daughter, you know what I mean?"

"I sure do. Anyway, thanks for all this Kadaj- I really appreciate it."

"It's no trouble at all, see you guys again soon."

And Kadaj bid them goodbye as Rika had crawled up and started tugging on Vincent's pants leg, whining about wanting to be held. Vincent reached down and picked up his daughter and held her in his arms as he knew things couldn't get any better than this.

(6 months later, the wedding day and the twins' birthday- 11:00 a.m.)

Sora stood in his room as he stared at the champagne colored dress he was wearing, nervous and a bit peeved at the same time…apparently Riku thought it'd be funny to put him in a dress for his big day, Sora staring at the mirror and his reflection as he heard a knock at the door. He merely said 'Come in' and was surprised to see his dad at the door. "Dad? What are _you_ doing here, why aren't you out there with mom and your grandkids?"

"Kairi can handle them, and your mother is helping Vincent into his tux. It's the same one my father wore on his wedding day…he was about Vincent's height so it should fit, and I came to see how you're holding up. I know you're nervous, I was too when I got married to your mom- but you shouldn't be so nervous that you'll run away from the altar…now, what do ya say we get out there and have us a wedding? But before you go…I have something for you."

As Sora watched his dad pull out a box, Cloud opened it to reveal a veil with pearls lining the bottom, the veil was attached to a tiara that sat on his head and went over the front of his face. The other item was a pair of satin gloves that went up over his elbows; Cloud slipped them on his arms and the veil on his head with it going over his face. "There, now you look beautiful Sora…I can't believe this is happening, but I couldn't be any more happy for you my son. Now, let's go out there and let you and Vincent be as one." Cloud smiled as he grabbed his son's hand and led him out of the room to await his chance to join Vincent in eternal happiness.

(Vincent's room, 11:20 a.m.)

As Vincent fiddled with the tux that Cloud had loaned to him, Aerith was helping him to get adjusted to it. It was a tux that truly fit him: dark red with a gray under shirt and a gold tie as Vincent looked at is reflection. His hair had been cut short for the occasion as Aerith adjusted the cuffs on his sleeves then stepped back to admire her work as she smiled at her other son-in-law happily. "There Vincent, don't you look handsome? Now, let's get going…don't want to keep everyone waiting, especially not the blushing bride."

Aerith smiled gently as she dragged Vincent out of his room and to the altar, then took her place next to Kairi, looking at her grandchildren then to the altar as Vincent stood there while the music played and then the doors opened as Cloud led Sora to the altar to stand across from Vincent as the '_Wedding March'_ reached its' end.

Cid then took his place at the podium and began the traditional wedding recitation. "Dearly Beloved friends and family, we've gathered under this blue sky to witness the union between Sora Strife and Vincent Valentine. It is a truly beautiful day for us all to be here under this beautiful sky to bear witness to a love I haven't seen so strong since I built the Tiny Bronco…all joking aside, it's time to exchange vows. Sora Strife, do you take Vincent Valentine to be your husband from now until the end of your days?"

"I do."

"And do you, Vincent Valentine, take Sora Strife to be your husband from now until the end of your days?"

"I do."

"Very well then, light the unity candles and drink the wine from each other's glasses. Now, by the power vested in me, the Ancients, and Jenova, I now pronounce you man and wife…Vincent, you may kiss your bride."

"And I shall enjoy every moment of it." As Vincent lifted the veil up over Sora's head, he leaned down and kissed Sora full on the lips as the crowd erupted in applauses of happiness and joy.

As the newlyweds walked down the altar path, Sora tossed his bouquet in the air as girls reached up and tried to catch it until it was caught by Loz, who looked at Kairi with a smile on his face as she grabbed the carriers and joined everyone for the rest of the reception.

T.B.C.- Finally, the wedding happened! Many more like it to come, I apologize for the short chapter. Anyway, read and review please!


	17. What The Future Holds

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: It's coming to a close, all that's left is to write out the futures of the other pairings as well as Sora and Vincent's possible job promotions…anyway, here's the chapter so read on peoples!

**Ch.17- What the Future Holds **

As Sora and Vincent finished up the reception, they'd been invited to attend the weddings of their friends and family so they spent plenty of time with each other, their kids, and going to weddings…it was the happiest time of both of their lives.

(5 years later)

Sora was preparing lunch on this beautiful Saturday afternoon when he heard yelling coming from the outside garden and knew right away who it was- the only other ones it could be since he knew Vincent was still at work today. Sora had by now become a manager at his job and could set his own schedule…he decided to spend today with his family, they all needed it.

"Raiko, give it back! Gimme my mp3 player, I was listening to it!"

As Raiko held the device above his sister's head, he knew she couldn't reach it and told her "Not until you take back what you said!"

"GIVE IT BACK!"

"Make me! I _dare_ ya!"

"I'll kick your ass if you don't give it back right now!"

"I'd like to see you try, you little-"

At hearing them both carry on like this, he could feel a headache coming on and decided to end it before things got too out of hand, putting down the plates and slamming his hands down on the table loud enough for them to hear. "That's enough, both of you! Front and center, right this second!" Sora said angrily, ever since they'd turned 5, they found something to fight about every day…but he supposed that was due in part to their personalities: Raiko was a bit of a mama's boy, but he was very strong willed…he had Vincent's straight hair but it was a bright platinum-blond, so light it almost looked white along with light amethyst eyes that could charm just about anyone and a pair of glasses to hide them ever since they'd found out about his eye issues when he was 3, and had needed them ever since then. Rika, on the other hand, had dirty blond hair that went straight down her back like Raiko's but it was pulled into a ponytail…she, unlike her brother, was stubborn, tough, and could be a touch vulgar when angered- which happened to be right now…but at the moment, her light blue eyes were wide with fear at her mom's angry voice.

"Alright you two, explain what's going on- one at a time…Rika, why don't you start?"

"Ok, I was listening to my mp3 player and just minding my own business, reading my favorite magazine when Raiko comes up to me and says 'You know it takes a lot to be a fashion designer…not that _I'd_ ever want _that_ lame job.' He took my music when I stuck my tongue out at him, and now he won't give it back!"

"Alright Raiko, why'd you take her mp3 player?"

"Because, all I did was say that fashion designing was kinda lame, and she called me an idiot saying I didn't know anything! So I took it to make her apologize, but she still hasn't!"

"Alright you two, I'll settle this right now. Raiko, give your sister back her music and apologize right this minute."

As Raiko saw his mom meant business, he gave Rika back he mp3 player and said "Sorry, sis."

"Good, now Rika you apologize to your brother."

"But, I don't see why I should!"

"(sternly) Rika Charlise Valentine…!"

"Alright, alright! Raiko, I'm sorry for calling you a brainless loser."

"That's better, now I don't want either of you at each other's throats for the rest of the afternoon- because next time I won't let you off with just a warning…now go and play together while I finish lunch, and I'll call you when it's time to eat ok?"

"(both) Ok, mom."

As they ran off to play, Sora couldn't help but roll his eyes at how another fight had broken out between them both…he only hoped that as they got older, things would smooth over between them.

T.B.C- Sorry for the short chapter, I just wanted you guys to get sort of a look into the twins' personalities and their overall appearance…anyway, it's coming down to the end so expect the next few chapters to also be short. Again, sorry- read and review please!


	18. Inheritance

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Well, it's winding down to the end so the next couple of chapters will be rather short- I apologize for that, but it's almost over so it will be focused on the twins' high school lives and Sora and Vincent's immortal love…Anyway, time for the chappie!

**Ch.18- Inheritance**

(10 years later, Raiko and Rika: age 15- first day of high school, 7:45 a.m.)

As Rika and Raiko straightened their uniforms, Rika had decided to 'customize' her uniform: she now wore a tie that was loosened around her neck, a halter top, and her uniform skirt with black leggings and black knee-high boots with buckles and straps, as well as kimono sleeves that attached onto her arms (think similar to Akita Neru's look on deviantart or youtube) and her hair was short in the back but her bangs were long and held out of her face with barrettes.

Raiko, on the other hand, wore his uniform just like it should be worn but his jacket was open revealing a white shirt and black tie as he grabbed his bag and tied his long hair into a high braid/ponytail, he held his sketch book in his other hand, his amethyst eyes sparkling in the sunlight behind thin silver glasses. As Sora stared at his two children who had grown so much in 15 years' time, he couldn't help but be proud of them, even if Rika had become more rebellious and Raiko had discovered that he was like his mom: chasing after boys instead of girls…he handed them their lunches and bid them goodbye as he saw Raiko get in the car with his dad and Rika took the bus. Sora then got ready for work, knowing it would be a long day for all of them.

(Radiant Garden High, 8:00 a.m.)

As Raiko stepped out of the car, he hugged his father goodbye and walked off towards the school where his first day was to start. Vincent watched with pride as his two children left, Rika getting off the bus with some girls and a couple of guys whom he'd guessed were her new friends then drove off after watching them step into the building.

(The principal's office, 8:10 a.m.)

As Sephiroth shuffled papers on his desk and put them away in the drawers where they belonged, he looked up just in time to see a group of 6 students step into the room. They were: Sora's twins Rika and Raiko, Kairi and Loz's son Mason, Kadaj and Yazoo's daughter Chikara, as well as his own grandson Jessie. He began drawing up their schedules and told them to go to their classes before they were late.

(Classroom 4, 8:20 a.m.)

As Raiko and Rika each stepped into the room, there were all kinds of students there- new students like them as well as returning students and they each took a seat away from each other so they wouldn't argue so much. As the teacher stepped into the room, he wrote his name on the board and then turned to the students in front of him.

"Attention all of you little brats, I am your teacher Mr. Artemis Drake, and you will listen to me or be summarily punished. Now, will all new students come up and introduce yourselves and tell us all one thing about you? Let's go, people! We don't have all day, move it!" he watched as 6 new students walked up and stood in a line with a boy with short blue-silver hair starting off.

"The name's Jessie, and my favorite hobby is reading horror stories alone. Can I sit down now? I'm getting bored just standing here staring at all these idiots." Jessie took his seat at seeing his teacher nod. Up next was a girl with long silver-green hair tied back into 2 low ponytails. "H-hi, my name's Chikara…my favorite activity is gardening. I'll take my s-seat now, Mr. Drake, Sir." She quietly went to her desk in the back (hard to believe that she's Raiko and Rika's cousin, right?). Then came a boy with short, curly red-silver hair and a big smile on his face. "Hi guys, the name's Mason! I specialize in making my friends smile and laugh…if you wanna be friends, just come talk to me! I'm gonna go sit down now sir!" Mason said as he weaved his way back to his seat as the twins Rika and Raiko were introduced next, then last but not least was a boy with shoulder length dark pink hair and clear steel-blue eyes that stood tall and flashed a smile to everyone as he said "Hello, my name is Nagato- my favorite hobby is growing flowers for those I hold close to me, I hope to make plenty of friends here. Can I go sit down now, sir?"

"Sure. Now then, let's all open our history books to Chapter 1- '_How all the Worlds Were Split Apart_'. It all began when…" as the teacher droned on for an hour, Nagato found himself continually staring at Raiko: if he hadn't said he was Rika's _brother_ then Nagato would've thought he was a girl…he was certainly more beautiful than _any girl_ in Nagato's eyes: he had long, bright platinum-blond hair that had been braided then put into a high ponytail, creamy pale skin, a somewhat smallish frame with curves in all the right places giving him a somewhat feminine look, nice thin wrists and glasses that were perched on the bridge of his nose, the frames sitting in front of beautiful light amethyst eyes that drew you in…Nagato knew he had to claim this beauty before anyone else could get their hands on him.

As the class waited for the teacher to stop boring them to death, an assistant came into the room and whispered something into Mr. Drake's ear and he stopped for a moment to address the class, who by this time were all paying attention to him as he said "Listen up, kids- it seems we have a late arrival to our ranks, so be nice to him! You can come in now, young man." He said as the door opened to reveal a boy with short, messy strawberry-blond hair and a guitar attached to his back. He was wearing the uniform but had only the pants on…he had a white halter-top on under a long black trenchcoat and a blank look on his face as he introduced himself to everyone: "My name's Austin Li Sinclaire- my hobby is music, so don't ask anymore. I'll take my seat now, sir."

"Alright, Austin- how about next to Rika? Ms. Valentine, raise your hand so he can find his seat?"

As the teacher addressed Rika, she lazily raised her hand up so Austin walked over and sat next to her as she boredly kept sketching ideas for gothic-lolita dresses in her notebook, writing down measurements and color preferences for the dresses as Austin leaned over and said "So, you wanna be a fashion designer?"

"(sarcastically) No, ya think?"

"Sarcasm- the body's only natural defense against stupidity…I'm just as bored as you, so you wanna hear me strum my guitar later?"

"Yea, whatever. So long as you do it in front of my friends, too."

"Fine, I could do that."

As they held hushed conversation, the bell finally rang and the class got up to have lunch as Rika, Raiko, and their friends went out to the garden while Austin followed behind them.

(Outer Garden, 12:00 p.m.)

As Austin settled in with his new 'friends', he saw each of them had a book of some sort and decided to have some personal fun. "Alright, I have an idea- it's called the Book Guessing game: we each have a book, so we all reveal what's inside it- by guessing a number 1-10, and Rika's up first so pick a number."

"Ok…I choose the number 3."

"Ok, up next names and numbers."

"Raiko, 7."

"Nagato, 6."

"Jessie, 9."

"Mason, 4."

"Ch-chikara, 8."

"And finally, I pick 5…so, Rika's up first. Show us the book!"

"Ok, ok…I uh, I want to be…a fashion designer under the alias Lolli-Lolli, I want to make gothica and lolita dresses, hats, bracelets, and gowns. I've wanted to ever since I was little. Ok, Mason's up next!"

As Mason stared at his new friends, he pulled out his book and said "I have in here novel manuscripts, I want to be a writer of fantasy/romance stories. Alright, Austin- your turn."

"Well, there's not much to tell- I want to be a song writer…I even have my own song called '_Finally Found You.'_ Would you guys wanna hear it?"

As they all murmured, Mason smiled and said "Sure, let's hear it!"

"Ok, here it goes." Austin then opened the case next to him to reveal a Latin acoustic guitar and started strumming delicately over the strings and flashed a smirk Rika's way as he also began singing in time to the gentle notes echoing from their strings.

"You know I'm gon get ya, yeah  
Whatever it takes to get there  
No I won't drop you  
Like everybody else does."

"Forget about your friends they don't care where we go  
If they do, we'll get lost in a crowd of people  
I've been looking for you forever baby we go  
Together baby we go, we go."

"In this crazy world of choices I've only got a few  
Either you're coming with me, or I'm coming with you  
Cause I finally found, I finally found you  
You never have to worry if what I say is true  
Girl I've been looking for you  
And when I saw you I knew  
That I finally found, I finally found you…"

_[beat break]_

"I'm coming I'll get ya, yeah  
We have a connection, that's right  
Cause girl I'm not letting go  
I'm gonna make you feel right, oh yea."

"Forget about your friends they don't care where we go  
If they do, we'll get lost in a crowd of people  
I've been looking for you forever baby we go  
Together baby we go, we go."

"In this crazy world of choices I've only got a few  
Either you're coming with me, or I'm coming with you  
Cause I finally found, I finally found you  
You never have to worry if what I say is true  
Girl I've been looking for you  
And when I saw you I knew  
That I finally found, I finally found you…"

_[beat break]_

"I finally found, I finally found you…"

"In this crazy world of choices I've only got a few  
Either you're coming with me, or I'm coming with you  
Cause I finally found, I finally found you…"

"Finally finally finally found you  
Finally finally finally found  
Finally found, I finally found you.."

"You know I'm gonna get ya."

By the time the last chords faded, everyone there was in awe of the emotion in it and that was when Rika looked at Austin like he was her new best friend…and she decided to say something to break the awkward silence. "Ok, now we can all agree that that was amazing- but who's up next?"

"I am." said Nagato. "Well, I write poetry- mostly about eternal love…I want to be a poet, and I have a question to ask Raiko…will you go out with me next weekend? We could go see a movie maybe? Or perhaps to a nice restaurant…whatever you like. So, what do you say?"

As Raiko looked into Nagato's green-gold eyes, he could see a thousand emotions in them all at once. Raiko would never admit this out loud, but he was deeply drawn to eyes that held so much emotional depth to them- it was truly his one weakness in another man: the eyes, and said with a smile on his face "Sure, I'd love to- and I'm up next in our little game. What I'm going to show you guys is my most guarded secret…I want to be a manga creator, I already have a story and sketches for one called '_Fate Tempts You But Only Once._' It's a yaoi story about a young boy named Kakeru Tsukiyomi, he's a gardener and one day he finds a wolf-shifter named Nova who he ends up taking care of for a while as he recovers from an injury. As they spend more time together, Kakeru learns that he's a Sentirou- a being that communicates with nature and they steadily fall in love with each other…anyway, that's all I have so far. I also have rough sketches- do you guys want to see?"

As Raiko opened up his sketch book, they saw how amazing the art was- he had the makings of a first-rate manga-ka…and then Raiko asked "So, who's up next?"

"I am…as I said earlier today, m-my name's Chikara…and I want to be a botanist- I want to study plants and grow them too, in a beautiful garden that I can enjoy having tea in with all my friends. S-so, who's n-next?"

As they looked at each other, Jessie spoke up with "I am…what I have in here is a design set for a horror café called '_Midnight Raven'_, where horror fans can come in and discuss their favorite spooky aspects about stories, movies, and videogames. I think that's everyone, and class is starting in 5 minutes so let's get going before we get lectured like there's no tomorrow."

As they walked to class, the cherry blossoms fell around Nagato and Raiko like a gentle pink zephyr, both thinking that things could only get better from here on out.

T.B.C.- It's almost over, so stick around for the exciting finale!


	19. Looking Ahead To The Future

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: It's almost done…I can't believe it's already on Ch.19! I'm so proud of myself for getting this far, I might cry…anyway, this will focus on the next phase of the characters' lives so it's gonna wrap up smoothly, I hope. Here's the chappie!

**Ch.19- Looking Ahead to The Future**

(2 years later)

As Raiko put on his t-shirt, he thought of how much his life had changed in just 2 short years…Rika had gone off to an art school to pursue being a fashion designer, and he was going off to see his boyfriend Nagato- who he'd been in a wonderful relationship with for 2 years…he finished brushing his now short hair and fixing his glasses when he got a text message. He knew it was his boyfriend, only he knew his number- well, him, his parents and his friends.

'_Meet me park…I've something to ask/tell u :3- Nagato.'_

At reading the message, he rolled his eyes with a smile on his face and replied '_On the way- see ya soon!'_ Then he grabbed his house keys and walked out the door of the empty house.

(The park, 10:30 a.m.)

When Raiko made it to the meeting place, he looked around for his lover and saw him sitting on a bench talking to his parents with a serious look on his face, so he made his way over there catching snippets of their conversation.

"…love him, and I'd like your blessing to marry him."

"-must agree to it as well."

"So, did I miss anything? Mom, Dad, Nagato?" Raiko asked as he took his seat next to Nagato across from his parents. Sora looked at his oldest and only son as he sat next to his boyfriend of 2 years with a content smile on his face, then turned to face his husband of 17 years, Vincent Valentine. They both nodded at each other and then at Nagato, who looked at his better half and got up off the bench seat, turned to face Raiko and held his hand as he got down on one knee before him…his eyes never leaving Raiko's.

"Raiko Valentine, you've given me nothing short of love and devotion- just being near you gives my life meaning and everlasting light…I hope to keep basking in your light and love, my precious one (pulls out gold band with emeralds and topaz). Will you marry me?"

As Raiko looked at the ring, then at the man he'd given his life and love to, he starts to cry and says happily "Yes, I will marry you, Nagato Tasumi! I will!" Raiko smiled as he tackled Nagato to the ground and kissed him full on the lips in front of his parents and everyone in the park as Nagato slipped the ring on his finger, staring up into the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen in his life as they got up and sat on the bench across from the parents, laughing when they smiled at them- everyone sharing a fit of laughter in the park.

(11 months later, Raiko's wedding day- 12:15 p.m.)

As Raiko stared at himself in the mirror nervously, he found the white wedding kimono beautiful as he adjusted his once again long hair and the headpiece sitting atop his hair. He heard a knock at the door and was surprised to find his father there in the doorway staring at him with admiring eyes as he walked over and stood next to him.

"You look beautiful, Raiko…Nagato's a very lucky man to have you. I'm so proud of you, you're beginning the next part of your life. I hope you two stay happy together."

"Thanks, dad…I'm really nervous, though."

"Don't worry, I felt the same way when I married your mother…we were both very nervous, but everything turned out for the better, after all we were blessed with you and your sister as well as a very happy marriage- now let's get you out there, I'm sure your fiancé is waiting."

(The altar, 12:20 p.m.)

As Nagato stood at the altar, he fiddled with the shirt of his kimono nervously and wondered if perhaps Raiko had gotten cold feet as well, but didn't have to wait long as he saw Vincent walk down the aisle with Raiko next to him…Raiko looking absolutely gorgeous in the white kimono, his light blond hair giving him an angelic appearance as Cid stood in front of the altar and read off the wedding recital while the two of them stood facing each other happily smiling.

"Dearly Beloved, we are here to unify these two individuals: Nagato Tasumi and Raiko Valentine in eternal bonding. Raiko, do you promise yourself to Nagato for all eternity?"

"I do."

"And do you, Nagato, promise to have Raiko as your one and only beloved for all eternity?"

"I do, for all eternity."

"Very well then, you may exchange rings and kiss your bride."

Nagato and Raiko exchanged rings, then sealed their vows with a heartfelt kiss, knowing nothing could ruin this moment for them.

T.B.C.- It's reaching the end, so stick around to see what happens next!


	20. Living Sometimes Means Saying Goodbye

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: It's finally winding down to the finish…this is the last chapter and then an epilogue, so get ready to say good bye to this story and maybe cry a little why doncha? Anyway, here's the chapter.

**Ch.20- Living Sometimes means Saying Goodbye **

(3 months later, 11:45 a.m.)

As Raiko packed the last of the boxes from his room into the moving truck, he saw his mom placing a box into the truck as well. Vincent had warned him to be careful not to strain his back as Sora was pregnant, again…so Vincent was even more protective this time around as Nagato loaded the last 3 boxes into the truck, then told the driver the destination and handed her a copy of the new house keys so they could get in and start setting down boxes.

"Well, just go ahead and get these to the house…you already know the address right?"

Yuffie then popped her head out and pouted saying "Yeah yeah, I got it already! 1080 ShadyBrook Lane, right?"

"Yes, so don't forget! Raiko, it's time to go…we don't want to be late to move in so let's go!"

As Nagato went to his car and started it up, Raiko bid his parents goodbye and then left with his husband to go to their new home together.

As Sora watched them leave, he started crying at how much his life had changed in 18 years…he was in a happy marriage with Vincent, his son had gone off to live with his husband and Rika had already become a very famous fashion designer. On top of which she and Mason had eloped after she learned she was pregnant with his child and couldn't help but smile, both at his children and his life as he kept crying. Vincent then came up and wrapped his arms around Sora, who was three months pregnant.

"Sora, what are you crying about now?"

"I'm just (sniffles) so happy at how my life has changed, I have a wonderful life with you…and two wonderful children who have made their dreams come true. I wouldn't trade it for anything in this whole world, because it's so perfect when I'm with you."

As Vincent held Sora in his arms, he got a phone call from his daughter Rika who sounded like she was distraught. "Dad, something's wrong! My hair just got white streaks in it, and there's a tattoo that looks like stitching under my left eye! What do I do?!"

"Calm down Rika, when did this happen?"

"Just now! Worst of all, I hear a voice whispering to me saying that I'm a worthy vessel! What does this all mean?"

As Vincent pondered for a moment, he realized what she was talking about and calmly told her "It's alright, it seems you've inherited Death Gigas from me. He'll keep you safe, so everything's fine. If you need any explanations, just come visit and I'll tell you what you need to know."

"Ok, I guess- but just _how _did this happen?"

"Hmm…it must have happened when you were in the hospital after you broke your leg as a little girl. I healed you with Gigas' energy, and I must have transferred him over to you in the process."

"Well, what about Raiko? Did he gain one like this too?"

"I'm not- (phone beeps) hold on, I have another call…it's your brother, I'll get back to you in a moment (puts her on hold). Hello Raiko, what is it?"

"Dad, something weird just happened- I touched a tree outside our house and it froze over! What's going on?"

"It's better to let your mom tell you about that, I'll put him on. Sora, it's Raiko- he wants to talk to you."

"Alright, thank you (takes phone from Vincent). Raiko, what's wrong?"

"Well, a tree froze over when I touched it! And the leaves caught on fire and burned, what's happening?!"

"Sounds like you got some of my magic abilities from when I fought the Heartless, if you practice enough you should be able to master them."

"I guess…but it's still kinda weird to think about, I'll try to cope, but how did I get these powers?"

Sora thought of how he could've possibly picked them up, then realized how it happened. "It was when I was pregnant with you, you must have taken some of my Keyblade magic energy into your growing body and they're only just now awakening. If you need any help with them, then I'll come and teach you- just call and ask. I'm handing the phone back to your father now. Talk to ya later, Raiko."

"Ok, mom- thanks."

Sora then handed the phone back to Vincent who resumed his conversation with Rika for a few more minutes and then hung up…yep, their lives were certainly full of twist and turns, and they would navigate them all together.

T.B.C- All that's left now is the epilogue! Read and find out what happens!


	21. Love Is

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Well, it's time for the epilogue…Sora will be immortal due to the Mako Cells in his body and Vincent's already got that down because of Chaos, so their love will be forever and their kids did not inherit this trait, so now it's time for the end of it all…the fic, that is- so here's the finale!

**Epilogue (Ch.21)- Love is Just Another Way to Spell Eternity**

(1000 years later)

As Sora stared out at the ocean from where his house once stood, he reminisced about the past. He thought of his father and mother, who had both passed away some time ago. He thought of his three children, Rika, Raiko, and Lorna, who had all lived wonderful lives and then passed on into the LifeStream as he also thought of his husband Vincent Valentine. As he stood there, he felt a pair of strong but gentle arms wrap around his midsection and heard the most beautiful voice in the whole world speak to him.

"Are you ready for our trip to Cocoon?"

"Yep, let's go. Apparently, we're supposed to meet someone named Lightning when we get there?"

"Yes, so let's go."

As the two of them set off for the far away city, they finally made good time when they only arrived in an hour and saw a woman with pink hair standing in the doorway of a hotel.

"Are you Lightning? I'm Sora, and this is my husband Vincent. You asked for our help?"

Lightning merely stood there and assessed them as she then spoke to Sora. "Yes, I'm Lightning. I need you to help escort me to Cocoon."

A/N: Ooh, Lightning needs their help…anyway, that's the end of this fic. If you think I should do a sequel, just message me and I'll try to do one if you want it badly enough. Anyway, that's all for this one- thanks for sticking around until the end…bye bye for now!


	22. Author's Note

**Red-Eyed Beloved**

Disc.: I DO NOT own 'Kingdom Hearts 2' or 'Final Fantasy' in any way, shape or form…I'm just borrowing for fun, so don't hate on me or this fic!

A/N: Hello faithful readers who have read this fic all the way through to the end, I want to thank all of you for taking the time to do so. Before I go any further, I want all of you to know that readers like you are what keep me going with your wonderful reviews/input, I respect all of what you say and take it with a grain of salt.

Now then, regarding this fic…this is the second time I've edited this particular story, I went back and noticed that a lot of the grammar either didn't fit with the story or just flat out didn't make any sense at all. So, with all of you in mind I went back through the whole of the fic and changed everything that was wrong or fucked up or just plain ridiculous. Bear in mind this is the fic that set up and lead to the whole story of Luna and Noctis, as well as their children. You could call it the ancestor of the family's adventures, surprising that it didn't start out with the parents, huh?

Well, it's true. Before any future readers of the fics with Luna and Noctis even _think_ of stepping into the world of my two favorite dragons, you need to go back and read the two fics that came before their stories, called 'Red-Eyed Beloved' and 'Eternal Hope'. If you want to read the aforementioned story Eternal Hope, you'll have to go to my deviantart page and access it from there, it's under the name HeliosDragonRose5298. As for everyone else, please continue to read about my two favorite dragons as well as their children and let me know how I'm doing with them/any world they cross over into- until then, keep calm and flutter on!

-Lovely Fox-Kit


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